Kanojo no Sukeban
by Glee-chan
Summary: Yuuki Togawa is a wimpy High School student who constantly gets bullied by Keiji Takeda and his girlfriend Manatsu Goto. Due to some circumstances he finds himself a cat-and-mouse game with the delinquent girlfriend, fighting each other via mind games and blackmail. Who's more dominate?
1. Chapter 1: Humiliation

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

1. Humiliation

P.E. Was there any other place in the world that was worse? Maybe hell, but then again hell wasn't on Earth. P.E. was it's closest cousin. If there was a worse place Yuuki Togawa didn't know about it. It wasn't because he was forced to participate in physical activities for a grade, or because he wasn't into any kind of sports. No, the reason why his life was a living hell in that class was because of two people: Keiji Takeda and his girlfriend Manatsu Goto.

The contrasts between Yuuki and Keiji were complete opposites. Keiji was a ogre, Yuuki delicate. Keiji was tall, Yuuki was small. Keiji was very athletic, Yuuki wasn't. Keiji had a buzz cut, Yuuki had messy shaggy hair. Keiji was a bully, and Yuuki was the victim. Even since High School began, Keiji singled Yuuki out as his target, and his girlfriend was always there, laughing at the torture.

Yuuki hated them both, and depending on the day sometimes the girl over the boy. While Keiji was the head of a group of boys who all were bullies, Manatsu was the same on the other end. Unlike her male counter part, she didn't look like a thuggish troll, even if she tried too. She had all the ingredients there: she had short blonde hair, dyed and fashioned in a typical girl-delinquent look, had a modified school uniform, and a natural tan… but somehow it seemed fake to Yuuki. If he started to question that deep down Manatsu was really a good person, she'd remind him quickly that she wasn't.

And it was on one Friday that Yuuki found himself in yet another one of those situations. For a large part of the class, Keiji and Manatsu were busy fooling around with each other, oblivious to the world. Usually this meant it was a safe day. So Yuuki thought he'd finish class early and change before their lustful mood disappeared. But no such luck. As he just finished changing, the pair found their way into the boys locker room.

"Ugh, him again." Manatsu groaned. "C'mon, let's go."

Sometimes when Manatsu said these things, Keiji was inclined to go along with them, but not this time. He wasn't as bored as Manatsu was with picking the same person to bully. Yuuki thought that secretly Manatsu wanted to widen her range.

"You're probably skipping class trying to avoid me, huh?" Keiji grinned exposing one of his crooked teeth.

"Why wouldn't I?" Yuuki grumbled. He was going to get picked on anyway. "I don't want everyone to think we're sleeping together."

"I'm starting to think that he doesn't like me, Manatsu-san." Keiji grinned, but gave Yuuki a strong shove into the lockers behind him.

Even thought his back was stinging, Yuuki thought it was odd that rude Keiji used polite honorifics for his girlfriend, who probably was the only one in the world who wouldn't care if he didn't. He didn't have time to think about as Keiji was ruffling up his hair roughly.

"Well to be fair, sometimes you are hard to get along with." Manatsu stuck her tongue out. "C'mon, I want to make out some more, and I don't want an audience."

"Let's do that later." Keiji pushed her away.

"Ignoring me for him, huh?" Manatsu raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like that, babe, I got a better idea. I think you and him should exchanged gym clothes."

While Manatsu laughed, Yuuki protested. "No way!"

"Oh, now we have to do it." Manatsu grinned evilly. "Turn around and take off your clothes."

"Like hell I will."

The back of Yuuki's head was slammed into the lockers as a quick punch slammed into his face, cutting his top lip. As if to put an explanation point on the deal, Keiji slapped Yuuki's face upward just before he gave another good punch in the stomach for good measure. Couching, his body on fire from the pain, Yuuki turned his back and stripped as he was told. It was just so cruel how easy it was for Keiji to beat him up. He could feel his top lip throbbing and taste blood in his mouth. Sadly this was a familiar taste.

Moments later Manatsu's gym uniform was thrown his way and he changed into them. It still was warm from her body heat and smelled like her. Even though her scent was appealing, to him it was the worst thing in the world. He glared at his own legs in her shorts with hatred. It was too tight around his groin.

"You can turn around now." Manatsu said in a sing-songy voice that sounded like this was just a fun make-over. Yuuki looked at his clothes on her, a bit tight around the chest but somehow fit.

"Except for the bulge he looks like a girl." Keiji laughed. "The busted lip could be smeared lipstick."

"I bet you like wearing my clothes huh? It's the closest you've ever been to a girl. The indirect body-contact probably has you tingling."

"Damn, if you say it like that, it'll make me jealous." Keiji told her.

"You can touch my body directly." Manatsu winked, then grabbed her smart phone, which Keiji was holding for her. "Let's get a picture. Making memories is so fun."

Keiji laughed at the picture. "This is too good. Take one with the both of us."

He walked over to Yuuki, placed his arm around the other's shoulders, and pantomimed punching him in the face. Manatsu took a few shots and Keiji went and looked at them.

"Well that was fun." Manatsu sighed, starting to pull off Yuuki's shirt.

"Wait. It's not over yet. It's irresponsible for kids to skip P.E. How else are they going to get their exercise?"

"Oh good point."

Yuuki shook his head. But Keiji grabbed his shirt and pushed him out the locker room.

"Hey be careful with that shirt." Manatsu protested. "It's mine, remember."

"Oh yeah, sorry."

And so Keiji paraded Yuuki around, forcing him to run track so everyone could see it. There were a few laughs from the boys, but mostly the laughs came from them being glad it wasn't them. Not one of them looked sorry for Yuuki, nor did they intend to help. The girls on the other hand either looked insulted or had pity. However none of them were going to protest with Manatsu around. The spectacle only ended when the P.E. Teacher woke up from his nap and noticed what was going on. After a good laugh, he put a stop to it.

"Damn it, Togawa… letting those two pick on you again. You really need a backbone. Takeda and Goto, apologize."

That was the punishment. That always was the punishment. The P.E. teacher liked Keiji and often let him get away with nonsense like this. The two gave fake apologizes and the P.E. Teacher went back to his nap. As an encore, Keiji forced Yuuki to take off his girlfriends uniform in view of everyone and return to the locker room. The boys continued to laugh, this time even a few of the girls joined in. Manatsu yawned and looked bored the whole time just to rub it in. When he returned to the locker room, he saw that his normal clothes, the ones he was forced to change out of, were laying in a puddle of water. That was Keiji's doing.

Ringing out his clothes the best he could, Yuuki had to spend the rest of the day in a damp uniform. No one took pity on him, except Nodoka Odo, his childhood friend. But even she didn't protest, which pained Yuuki. Although he'd never say it, he secretly liked her. He wouldn't admit it for fear of ruining their friendship. But he couldn't see a cute girl like her liking a wimp like him anything.

Nodoka could only gave Yuuki her usual sympathetic, but didn't voice her concerns. While Keiji wasn't in the same homeroom as Yuuki, Manatsu was, and all the girls feared her. She too didn't want to be bullied, so she usually kept her feelings on Yuuki's treatment out of earshot of Manatsu. But as soon as the blonde was gone, like a good friend Nodoka would break into a tirade of color language. Yuuki couldn't blame her for her caution.

In order to cope with his torment, Yuuki turned to poetry. Writing was an outlet of all the things he couldn't say in the real world. He did this was all aspects of his life. He'd write about how he missed his parents, or how he wished Nodoka would see him as more than a friend. But the most frequent topic was Keiji and his bullying. Little poems of revenge often made him calm down after these sessions, and as soon as Nodoka turned around, Yuuki took out his poetry notebook and started writing.

After class had ended, Manatsu left before cleaning. She didn't return his P.E. clothes. Somehow Yuuki expected as much. As soon as she was gone, Nodoka ranted and raved over how cruel Manatsu was, but as far as everyone else was concerned he was the plague. No one talked to him, or even looked at him. It was as if they were scared Manatsu would come back and catch them. Part of him understood. If he didn't have the courage to stand up to the power couple, then no one else should be expected too.

"You shouldn't let them pick you like that, Yuuki-kun." Nodoka told him. She could say that but she never stood up for herself either.

"I wish I could. But there's no way I can take Takeda in a fight. He'd just get mad and beat me up even worse."

Nodoka sighed heavily. "I just… I just hate seeing you being picked on so much."

"I know."

"I nearly cried when you had to wear that girl's winter uniform that time. I wonder why he constantly puts you in drag?"

"I really wish you could forget about that." Yuuki groaned. Of all the things to remember, Nodoka always brought up the most embarrassing things.

After cleaning, Yuuki said his goodbyes to Nodoka and started on his way home. He felt slightly ashamed of himself, admiring her in secret. She was the only friend he had and he didn't want to lose her. If she ever found out that sometimes he looked at her body in more than just a friend then there would be some problems. But her smile was enchanting to him. He had written poetry about it.

As Yuuki walked home, a breeze was blowing. With a wet uniform he was freezing. A cold chill when down his back when he looked head and it had nothing to do with his uniform. Unsurprisingly, he saw Manatsu on her way home as well. This wasn't an odd thing. Occasionally he would see her going the same path, which meant she lived in the area. But once out of school she rarely acknowledged him. She usually was on her phone or listening to music. Sometimes he hoped she could feel his angry glares he drilled into her. Then again if she could, she'd probably just beat him up. But that was a fantasy, he knew he didn't exist in her world.

As a new gust of breeze blew into him, Yuuki shivered. The weather was getting cooler as the sun started to set, Even if he was going to get punched he decided he'd ask Manatsu for his gym clothes back. He doubted she'd give it back but if she did he could change into it at the Internet Cafe ahead. It wouldn't be the warmest thing in the world, but it had to be better than his wet clothes. Wrestling up all the courage he had Yuuki caught up to her, feeling that the idea was probably a dumb one.

"Ugh, it's you." Manatsu gave her usual charming greeting. "Are you following me, or something?"

"I just want my gym clothes back."

"Do you?" Manatsu scratched the side of her nose. "Must be freezing in those wet clothes."

"Please let me have them back."

Manatsu stopped and sighed. "Whatever." She bent down and looked into her bag, pulling them out. "Here."

"Thanks." Yuuki took them, honestly surprised she gave them up without a fight.

"Bye." She stood back up and walked off without a care in the world.

He wished she ignored him at school as much as she did outside. It was Keiji who seemed to have the problem with him, she just went along with it. But even while he thought about that, he reminded himself that every time he got soft on Manatsu, she'd do something to him on her own. Taking those photos of him in wearing her gym shorts for instance.

As planned, he went into the Internet Cafe to change his clothes. It felt good to get out of them, the uniform was semi-drying and was starting to rub him raw. He placed it in a plastic bag, and started to leave the shop. But there she was again. Manatsu Goto. He didn't see her when he came in, but then again all he was looking for was the toilet. She was at one of the cafe's laptops looking completely bored.

Yuuki wanted to rush pass her and head home, but his curiosity took ahold of him. In the past he often saw Manatsu use her very expensive smart phone to check all her social interaction, so it seemed strange that she wasn't using that. He knew she had it with her earlier in the day. Her going to an Internet Cafe didn't add up. He stuck around out sight and watched her, trying to see what she was doing. It looked like email, which again baffled him.

All of a sudden she yawned, stretched, and clothed the cafe's laptop she was working on. Yuuki saw she hadn't logged out. She just shut it off. Even if she turned off the computer, all that information was still logged in. Once someone tried the same email site they'd probably end up at her account. It wasn't a guarantee, but it was a possibility.

"What an idiot." Yuuki whispered to himself. But what did he expect from a stupid flunky of a idiot bully?

Manatsu stood up, pushed the chair under the table, picked up her bag and left. As she walked out of the cafe, she still had that air of nonchalantness about her that she always had. Yuuki watched her leave, his eyes lingering on her long tan legs momentary because he returned back to reality.

Taking no chances, he swooped over to the table she was using and opened her laptop before anyone else could. He took a moment and stared at the desktop, wondering what he was doing. Should he really be doing this? It didn't hurt to at least see if he was right. He typed in the email address for the same site Manatsu used. Sure enough he was on her account. The computer hadn't logged her out.


	2. Chapter 2: Revenge

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

2. Revenge

Yuuki's heart was pounding. He was actually looking at Manatsu Goto's email inbox. Nervously he looked out the window, sure she was there just waiting for him to do something foolish so she could pounce. But she was already gone. He shivered, and not because he was wearing gym shorts. But the delinquent girl was no where to be seen, she had already walked out of site. The realization came to Yuuki. Manatsu's private life was an open book just sitting in front of him.

"I should log her out." He spoke softly to himself, but immediately knew he wouldn't. There was no way he could just log her out and not at least peek around.

His brain struggled with the morality of it all. Then he smelled Manatsu's sweet scent on his gym shirt, and all thoughts of being noble left him. She sat there and watched as Keiji forced him to undress in front of the whole class. She even took pictures of him in girl clothes. There wasn't any reason why he shouldn't poke around.

Her inbox was empty, and so was her trash. It seemed she was smart enough to get rid of messages she didn't want read again, even if she wasn't smart enough to log out. But for all her carefulness to delete her inbox, her Spam folder and Sent messages folder were both full.

_Moron_.

When Yuuki opened up her Sent folder, it was filled with her correspondences from months back. A lot of them were sent to Keiji, her bully friends, and her little sister. Nothing too interesting there. But it was the other things that stood out, like the message Manatsu just sent before she left the Internet Cafe.

The first message was titled "Thanks for Telling Me". Yuuki opened it up. Below her response was the original senders message, which Yuuki read.

"I received the package, and as usual everything is in excellent quality. You're quickly becoming one our greatest assets. The swimsuit was a nice touch, but the bra and panties are still your best sellers. After the next shipment, how about a bonus? The kayaseya's (clients who's erotic fetishes include sniffing) just love your scent, and so does everyone here at _Momorio Burusera_. Keep up the good work."

"What?" Yuuki blinked.

Manatsu was selling her used panties to a Burusera shop? Yuuki had heard of girls doing this before. It was a business where a company would give girls money to buy underwear and other clothes to wear, only to sell the used items to perverts after the girls natural scent was placed on it. As gross as it sounded, it actually was a good way for girls to make money without ever being in danger of being molested.

On scanning down the sent list, he saw a number of replays to the panty seller business, _Momorio Burusera_. From the looks of it, this was a normal transaction for Manatsu. Without realizing it, Yuuki pulled out his USB flash drive and started saving those emails. He didn't remember planning it, but somewhere along the line he had decided that information like this could be useful later on.

But that wasn't the only thing he found. There were a number of replays back and forth to an Ecchi Cosplay Forum. She had their messages directed to her email instead of going to the actual site. Reading those erotic messages back and forth with cosplayers gave Yuuki more material to save.

There were also letters Manatsu was sending to Keiji's best friend, Asuta Toranaga, most of which were flirtatious, some were almost pornographic in their writing. In Manatsu defense, that's all the letters were; flirtatious. There was no hint of cheating going on. Most of their letters dealt with the subject of Keiji, whom Asuta was loyal too. But that didn't stop them from joking Keiji behind his back. In one letter to him she was describing the size of Keiji's member, and that it was really small and he was a premature ejaculator. Yuuki laughed at this, but was more interested in her secret crush on Asuta.

But the real kicker was centered around a username named Wet_Usagi. On those emails, Manatsu was sending pictures back and forth. Manatsu seemed to liked sewing outfits and costumes, then posing in them for pictures, and sell the costumes to cosplayers. Most of the photos were of sexy outfits she was wearing, but there was a number of them where Manatsu dressed in erotic wear, some next to nothing. There were even a few featuring her completely naked, hiding her private areas in a teasing manner, only exposing her bare bottom. There was no second thought for Yuuki to save those images. His USB was starting to get full of everything secret in Manatsu's life.

Yuuki sat back, looking at the wealth of dirt he had on his tormenter. He wasn't sure what he should do with it. He knew that he couldn't ignore it. If ever there was an opportunity to get revenge, this was the moment. But the back of his mind really wanted Keiji to pay, not Manatsu. She was bad on her own, but she wasn't the main source. If Keiji didn't prompt her, she probably would have never of known that Yuuki existed. Just what the hell was he going to use Manatsu's secrets for?

He sat there thinking of ways he could use Manatsu's dirty laundry to ruin Keiji's life. But as the sun was starting to set, Yuuki figured he should go home and thinking about it. Wanting to give Manatsu's one last jab, he went into her email settings and worked out her password. It took some doing, but she was simple minded about it. In case she forgot what it was, the email site had asked to come up with a question to help her remember her password. She asked "Who is my little sister." Having read her replies to her sister, it took a few tries to get it right. Her sister's name was Kaori, but the password didn't recognize that. So Yuuki used a common nickname for Kaori, "Kaorin", and got the password correctly.

Now being able to access her account whenever he wanted, and having a USB drive filled with Manatsu's secrets, he logged her out and went home. Part of him felt ashamed, but it was a small part. He thought of her secret life, noticing a theme. A number of them had to do with erotic clothing. Selling them, making them, wearing them, talking about them. When he thought about it, even her modified uniform for school was more sexual than aggressive.

When Yuuki came home, he started for his room. He wanted to plot his revenge in silence. But as he reached the top of the stairs he met his younger sister, Tomoko. She was thirteen, but often acted like she was more adult than she actually was. When she saw him her eyebrows shot up.

"You got beat up again, huh?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I forgot." Yuuki rubbed his top lip. "I'm okay."

"I don't like it." She walked over to him, expecting his bruises. "It happens so often now, that you forget about it. I hate it."

"There's nothing I can do about it, other than put up with it." Yuuki complained, and pushed his sister away from his face. She meant well, but he didn't like it when she was within kissing distance. "Well, almost nothing. I'm working on that now."

"If you're planning on fighting-"

"No way. I'm not that stupid." Yuuki reassured her.

"Why are you wearing your P.E. clothes?"

"My uniform is wet."

"Right." Tomoko face was burning. "Give it here." She snatched the bag with the wet uniform. "Right…" She muttered again in anger, and stomped down the stairs towards the laundry room.

"Thanks Tomo-chan!" Yuuki called out to her, then when into his bedroom.

It pained him to see how much it upset his sister that he got picked on at school. She loved her big brother, and he loved her. They were always close, as their parents were devoted to work life than family. Which mean often times it was just the kids. Since it was just them I didn't want his sister to worry about him so much. He wished that he wasn't an embarrassment of a man, that he could take care of himself.

When Yuuki sat down at his desk in his room he took out his poetry journal and the USB Drive, looking at them. The USB drive represented his future. The question was how was he going to used this information to get Keiji off his back? He sat in front of his computer and thought about it. It took him about thirty minutes until an inkling of an idea came to him. The question was, did he have the balls to pull it off? The memory of the angry look on his sister's face told him he had to try.

Quickly creating a new email account to keep his identity a secret, Yuuki typed in Manatsu's address. In a letter, he posted a sample of a few of what he had collected earlier in the Internet Cafe. There was a sentence or two of an email to Keiji's friend Asuta, something from _Momorio Burusera_, a post from the ecchi cosplay forum, and even one of Manatsu's erotic photos. They were all small samples but enough to tell Manatsu everything he had on her.

Below all the samples he was sending her, he wrote down "After school on Monday, meet me at the park near your house. Come alone or I'll publish what I have. Tell anyone about this and I'll publish what I have. This is blackmail, and I have you." And as if to tie it all together, Yuuki decided to change the title of the email to "Blackmail".

He sat there for a long time, wondering if he should send it. Then he heard his sister walk back up the stairs and he resolved himself to this fate. He sent the email. His heart raced. He was playing with fire here. There was no telling what Manatsu would do. Somehow he expected an immediate reply from her but after refreshing the screen a few times, he realized she was busy.

So he took a bath, then made dinner for Tomoko, even though she insisted it was her turn to cook. The truth was it really was her turn, but Yuuki wanted to get his mind off of what he had just done. He had made such big threats, but the reality was that he really had no one to send his material too? She could call his bluff. Over the weekend he'd have to figure out someway to make his threats real.

"Yuuki, I wish I went to your school." Tomoko broke his thoughts.

"Yeah? How come?"

"I want to protect you."

"I wouldn't want you too. It's too dangerous. The people that do this to me pick on defenders as well. Nodoka-chan won't even step in." Yuuki explained.

"Like she would..." Tomoko pouted. Yuuki knew Tomoko never was that found of Nodoka for one reason or another. "I don't like it. Why do they pick on you the most?"

"I really don't know." Yuuki often wondered that himself. Keiji one day just decided on him. "Don't worry about it, Tomo-chan, I told you I'm working on a plan."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make friends with the bully's girlfriend." Yuuki told her. He didn't want her to know how low he was going. "I think it'll work."

"Sounds sketchy to me."

"It's better than not doing anything. If teachers or students aren't going to step in, then I need to do something about it myself, right?"

"I guess so." Tomoko said, then started collecting the dinner plates. "I just hope you don't get beat up again for talking to some other guy's girlfriend."

"Me too."

After helping Tomoko wash the dishes, Yuuki went back to his room to check his blackmail email account. He wondered if she'd seen his message yet, part of him hoped she hadn't, or else saw the title and deleted it. But when he logged on and checked there was one message, and it wasn't from the website thanking him creating a new account. It was from Manatsu Goto.

"Who are you? Where did you gets this stuff? What do you want from me?"

That's all she wrote. She had sent it two minutes before he logged on.

He thought about it for a while then typed. "Find out Monday, at the arranged meeting place. I could be anybody so be careful to not offend me."

He waited. His body filled with adrenaline, even though all he was doing was sitting in front of a monitor. Then a new message popped in his inbox, from Manatsu.

"I'll be there. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't expose me."

Yuuki couldn't believe she gave in that quick. But on thinking about it, maybe it wasn't so far fetched that she would. On looking at the way she handled her email, giving an easy password to crack, and just leaving it open for anyone to read, perhaps computers weren't her strong suit. He could tell her anything as long as it sounded reasonable and she'd believe he could do it.

But the fear of actually facing an angry Manatsu on Monday was distressing. He knew he held all the cards, but the girl was a delinquent, after all. Who's to say she wouldn't beat him up anyway. If she did, Yuuki thought he should be prepared to spread her secrets to everyone. Let her call his bluff. If he couldn't ruin Keiji's life, he'd ruin hers.

He looked at his gym uniform, and thought how it smelt like her earlier, then thought about how people paid to get clothes from her so they could smell her scent. It made his stomach turn. He felt disgusted at himself for thinking she had a nice scent earlier.

To calm his nerves, Yuuki picked up his poetry journal and wrote a few lines about Manatsu sweet smell, contrasting it with a poison. He wrote how it lingered on everything, yet corroded everything it touched. It wasn't great poetry, but just a few lines made him feel better.

Suddenly a bling noise came from his computer, breaking him from his writing. He looked up and saw another message popped up in his email. Manatsu had sent something else. "I meant it when I said I'll do anything."

Yuuki's heart nearly stopped. She was freaking out. He had her. Somehow he really had her.


	3. Chapter 3: Blackmail

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

3. Blackmail

The weekend was one long research project on how-to-blackmail someone. It made his brain hurt. Yuuki covered his bases just in case things went wrong. But deep down was starting to feel they wouldn't. Since Friday night, the girl in question sent several more messages, each saying that she'd give in. To keep her on edge, Yuuki never messaged back, though he was tempted. He felt if he responded he might start to feel sorry for her, and that was something he couldn't afford to do.

School on Monday was nerve wracking. Not only did he still have to face whatever Keiji had to throw at him, but the dreading meeting at the public park with Manatsu Goto later on in the day. But on seeing the girl in his home room he could tell she wasn't her usual cocky self. She was a wreck.

"I wonder what's up with the Bitch-Queen?" Nodoka asked Yuuki before class started. "I've never seen her look like that."

"Maybe she's failing at something and her folks are cracking down." Yuuki shrugged.

"Yeah right, Goto worried about grades. Like that will ever happen."

"She's human too…" Yuuki shrugged. "Maybe not fully human, but I'm sure deep down somewhere there a glimmer of-"

Nodoka started laughing. "Wow, you sound confident."

"Don't let it get around." Yuuki teased. "I figure if she's upset about something, I have a day off."

Nodoka seemed to agree with this. "Yeah, Takeda will be all up her ass now."

When Nodoka said that, an image of Manatsu's butt flashed in Yuuki's brain. He quickly dismissed it, not wanting to think of Manatsu as a girl He'd much rather think about Nodoka, even if it made him feel guilty. She was the girl for him. Maybe after he stood up for himself, she wouldn't see him as a whim.

And as it turned out, Nodoka was right about Keiji. During P.E. Keiji was more preoccupied with how Manatsu was acting to bother with anyone else. She seemed annoyed with his attention and just wanted to be left alone. Which was probably a bad idea, as it only made him more clingy. That was until the end of the class, as Yuuki had just finished changing and was coming out of the locker room. Frustrated that his girlfriend wasn't giving him attention he decided to take it out on Yuuki.

"Well well well well." Keiji followed him as Yuuki was making his way to his homeroom. "Look who it is?"

"Fuck off, baby-dick." Yuuki muttered out unguarded. Ten minutes later he was in the Nurse's Office with said nurse putting a bandage over his forehead.

All-in-all the rest of the day went smoothly. After Nodoka gave her usual rant about how awful Keiji was, when she thought Manatsu wasn't listening that was, and the day went along as if nothing had occurred. It was a pity that beatings happened so often now that no one cared. Yuuki looked at his journal wanting to write a few lines of poetry to calm himself for what he had to do after school but he couldn't. As the school day came to a close, he couldn't concentrate.

After school, Yuuki wanted to leave the campus first. He wasn't sure if he wanted to wait for Manatsu or if he wanted to show up late and let her wait. Regardless, he wanted out before Keiji showed up to have his after school chat with Manatsu. Nodoka was under the same impression and aided his exit the best she could.

Having left, Yuuki knew he'd reach the park before Manatsu did. He didn't want to wait for her, it seemed like he was giving a bit of power up. So he went and got a drink at the Internet Cafe, and took his time drinking it. He wished the tea calmed his nerves, but it didn't. Could he really stoop down to Manatsu's level and blackmail her? He knew he had to try, but could he really pull it off? Having felt he wasted enough time, he got up and started towards the park.

His heart was pounding so hard he thought he might have a heart attack as his mind continued to worry. Was he really going to do this? What if Manatsu told Keiji that she was being blackmailed and they were waiting for him? He'd just have to take more punishment, then go through with his threat against the girl. Part of him wanted to back out. But he felt his forehead, and knew he couldn't take being bullied anymore.

He reached the public park and felt slightly discouraged that there wasn't any children or witnesses around to stop the massive beating he may be getting. But on the upside, Keiji was nowhere to be seen. The only person there was Manatsu, who was sitting on a swing looking down at her shoes. Yuuki walked up next to her and took the vacant swing, not sure what to say.

"Can you leave?" Manatsu spoke to him in a cold voice. "I'm meeting someone and I want to be alone."

This surprised Yuuki. He was sitting right next to her, and she still didn't figure out he was the one blackmailing her. He really didn't exist in her world, did he? Well that would change.

"I know you are. It's me."

Her eyes shot up immediate and looked at him in shock. "Ugh, it's you." Her usual greeting. "How do I know it's really you who I'm supposed to meet?"

"_Momorio Burusera_." Yuuki told her, trying to sound confident, but deep down he was scared. Giving the panty-shop name was all he needed to convince her he was the one who sent that email.

"Damn it." Manatsu swore. "Well… I came here, like you said."

The was a long pause. Yuuki wasn't sure where to beginning, or even how to. Even though he held all the power he was still afraid of Manatsu. The girl, on the other hand, was not her usual self. She looked as nervous as he felt.

"What do you want from me." She blurted out. "I told you I'd do anything you want, and I mean it. Stop making me wait and just tell me what you want already!"

"Sorry."

"Oh this must be fun for you, making me freak out all weekend… all day, just watching me lose it." Manatsu looked back at her shoes, her cheek shining pink.

Yuuki didn't know how he managed to say it, but he pushed off the ground and allowed himself to swing a bit. "Yeah, it was fun."

"Fun huh?" Manatsu gave him a glare, but it wasn't as angry as he thought it would be. " S-So what do you want me to do?"

"What do you think I'm going to ask you?" Yuuki was starting to feel a bit more confident now. Why not tease her a bit more?

"You're probably going to ask me to have sex with you or something." Manatsu spoke in a tone that had no embarrassment whatsoever.

"Ah." Yuuki stopped swinging. She might not be embarrassed at the idea of sex, but he was. "No I wasn't thinking that." It honestly never occurred to him. He was blackmailing her, but he couldn't take the extra step and force her to have sex. Besides, he never even kissed a girl before.

"Money? I have money, but I'm not loaded with it or anything…" Manatsu pondered. "I can give you a share of what I make for _Momorio Burusera_ if that's what you want."

"Tempting." Yuuki looked at her. "But I want something a bit more simpler."

She looked lost. "For me to stop picking on you? You're really going this far to stop that?"

"I'm not so much concerned about you, it's that moron Takeda. See, you only bully me when ever he starts it, so he's the real problem."

"Well I'm just his girlfriend I can't control him." Manatsu pointed out, something Yuuki already knew.

"I don't want you to control him. I want you to break him."

"What?" Manatsu looked shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I want you to publicly humiliate him, I want you to break up with him so bad he loses all credibility with everyone. And I want insurance that he won't retaliate his rage on me."

"You want me to… break him? I can't do that."

"I know you don't care for him. I saw the messages you sent back and forth with Toranaga. You think Takeda is a joke. All I'm asking is that you publicly acknowledge it. If you break him in front of everyone, he won't be the top dog anymore and he won't be able to bully anyone ever again."

"Heh, aren't you just the hero." Manatsu gave a fake laugh.

"That's the idea anyway…"

Manatsu turned away from Yuuki, looking back at her shoes, clearly her mind racing. "How am I supposed to do this?"

"That's not my area of concern. For breaking him, I'll delete everything I have with the Toranaga conversations. For making Takaga lose it and cry I'll even delete the Ecchi Cosplay forum posts."

"You're not going to delete it all?!" Manatsu stood up enraged. "You're nothing but a sniveling bastard."

Yuuki's cockiness flickered for a moment, but he tried to say calm. "Look at it from my point of view. If I give up everything, then what's to stop you from immediately telling Takeda that you were blackmailed, or else just taking it out on me yourself. Nope, I need insurance, and maybe some new favors along the way. Once I think you'll hold up your end of the bargain, then I'll agree to delete everything."

"I see you thought of everything." Manatsu shifted her jaw and sat next to Yuuki again. "Damn it."

Yuuki felt sorry for her, despite himself. "Look, I'm not really out to ruin your life. But you don't even like Takeda anyway. Just do what I say, and no one will know about your cosplay photos and everything else."

Manatsu turned her head, facing him with fierce eyes. "I never knew you had this in you. You're such a wimp."

"I know I am. I can't fight like you and Takeda can… so I have to fight in my own way. I'm tired of being beat up."

Manatsu smirked slightly. "I would try to counter blackmail you with those pictures I took with you in my gym clothes… but that idiot paraded you in front of the whole class already."

He wondered why she was smiling at this. It was like a part of her found the notion of getting tricked entertaining. He didn't know.

"I'd like for you to break that asshole sometime this week. In the mean time I don't want any more pranks or beatings." Yuuki told her. "If you don't publicly break up with him by Friday, I'll publish one of your secrets out, and we'll try again. If I get beaten before then, then that'll cost one more secret."

Manatsu nodded. "Fine, fine. I get it. Why couldn't ask for a blowjob, that's much more easier."

"Sorry, but I can find better things for you to do with your mouth."

Laughing Manatsu stood up again. "I need to think on it. But understand, you may own me right now, but I'm still your enemy. I'm going to find a way to get even with you."

"It's a dangerous gamble." Yuuki reminded her. "You have no cards to play."

"I know… but I'm not the type to just sit there and take it when someone stands over me and tries to humiliate me. I get why you're doing this, but I don't have any sympathy. You got what you deserved for being a weak little bitch. Just like how I'm getting what I deserve now. I let my guard down and got played. So I'll play your game for now, make no mistake am I not giving up. When you least expect it, I'm going to ruin you."

"Maybe I was wrong about what I said about your mouth. Maybe you do need a cock in it." Yuuki grumbled, anger getting the best of him.

She scoffed and walked around the swing to face him. "Like you'd ever have the courage to try."

Yuuki stood up, fear filling his whole being. But now that he was on this path he had to face it with everything he had. "You're right. I probably don't want to put my junk in that mouth anyway. I could catch something."

In an instant Manatsu slapped him. Hard. Yuuki nearly fell on the ground. In that split second she went from anger to regret. She just hit her blackmailer. Yuuki saw the fear creep on her face and realized he wasn't the only one afraid. Rubbing his cheek and steadied himself, allowing her to soak in the moment. She hated to wait, it made her uneasy. He had to remember to play that card often.

But the slap also told him there was a line he shouldn't cross. Just because she modeled and sold her panties to some perverts didn't mean that she viewed herself as a slut. She obviously took offense to anyone saying she was. As he thought about these things, Manatsu was pacing where she stood, cursing herself for her outburst. The image brought him back to reality.

"I'll let that one go. I deserved that." Yuuki told her, seeing relief come to her face. "But don't take this as a sign that I won't go through with my threat. Hit me again, whether I deserve it or not, and I'm sending something. And if it turns out I send everything out before I get anything I want, at least I'll have the satisfaction of ruining your life. Beatings be damned."

Manatsu's jaw shifted, obviously trying to restrain herself from some kind of come back. There was a fire in her eyes, obviously a mix of emotions. Anger, fear, and something else. He didn't know her too well to figure out what that was. He couldn't take her gaze on him for too long, he had to leave before he lost all his confidence.

So with that, Yuuki left her. His jaw was humming in pain, his forehead bloodied and bruised, his legs shaking in fear, but he walked away with more pride he had ever felt in his life. He felt Manatsu watching him go, and he was very cautious of every step he took. The back of mind was filled with him tripping up and looking a fool right after he just tried to look bad ass in front of her. But he left with no problem, feeling the weight of nerves drop off his chest at the same time.

But when his fear for confronting Manatsu left, the reality of dealing with her piled on. She was out to get him after all was said and done. Even if she wasn't Keiji, she still was taller than he was, and judging by that slap she could easily beat him. But she didn't want her secrets let out, and as long as he had that, he could control her. He just had to keep an eye on her trying to double cross him. This was going to be difficult.


	4. Chapter 4: Dumped

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

4. Dumped

The next day at school Yuuki found his poetry journal no help to him, once again. All he kept thinking about was the day before, and the look in Manatsu's eyes when he left her in the park. The longer he was away from her, the less confident he felt he could control her. It didn't help mattered that where before she didn't know he existed, that now he'd occasionally catch her eye.

He wondered if meeting her in person was such a good idea. When he got home the night before, he beat himself over not just handling the blackmail purely with email. Meeting her in person was a big mistake, and his first one. He couldn't afford to many when dealing with a person like Manatsu. For now on he had to be more careful.

"Hmm." Nodoka's soft voice pried Yuuki's thoughts of Manatsu's revenge.

Yuuki looked at her, seeing his crush's face turned in the direction of Manatsu. The girl was looking down at her homework, so Yuuki didn't think anything was particularly interesting, other than Manatsu doing homework that was. When Nodoka looked at Yuuki again, he heart skipped a beat. Why was he noticing her beauty more and more these days?

"Have you notice it too?" Nodoka asked.

"Noticed what?"

"Goto…"

"She's doing homework for a change." Yuuki glanced at her just as she was turning her head to look at the black board. "I guess that is odd."

"Not the homework." Nodoka mused mainly to herself. "Maybe I'm just seeing things."

Yuuki didn't know what she meant. His ignorance was lifted throughout the day, however. As the day led on, every so often he'd catch Manatsu looking at him then turning away, or else just catch her head already turning when he looked. Had he really gotten to her that much? He knew she wasn't that smart, but the way she was acting would give away that something happened between them. By lunch time, Nodoka wasn't the only one who was noticing.

Frustrated, Yuuki felt the urge to go over to her desk and slap her in the back of the head. It wasn't as if she was blatantly doing it, but it was enough to be noticeable. When he left to buy some curry bread at the school vender, she joined him minutes later. Surrounded by others getting their food, Yuuki felt safe enough to say something to her.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Nodoka-chan told me you're looking at me." Yuuki told her.

"Did she?" Manatsu sounded unconcerned. "Who cares?"

"I do." Yuuki ordered his curry bread and was starting his way back to class when Manatsu joined him again.

"I didn't realize I was doing it, I'll stop." She whispered in his ear, a bit too closely. He left her lips brush against it.

As she walked off, he realized other classmates noticed the whisper too. He groaned. Expecting subtlety from a delinquent was like pulling teeth. When he returned to his desk, he saw Nodoka waiting for him, already eating her bento. Yuuki joined her, and must of still looked annoyed because she asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing. Just… the line and all that." Yuuki lied.

"Well I noticed something else when you left." Nodoka transformed to gossip mode. "Goto watched you leave, then immediately ran off after you."

"She didn't run." Yuuki spoke, more in a hopeful tone that a declarative one.

"Maybe not a full run, but it definitely looked like she was chasing after you." Nodoka went on. "Did she say anything to you?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. 'Out of the way shrimp' that sort of thing." Yuuki couldn't look Nodoka in the eyes when he lied to her.

She didn't seem to notice. "Well, now she's purposely not looking at you. Like she realized I noticed and is not looking on purpose."

Yuuki groaned. Loudly enough that Nodoka noticed. Just what was that Manatsu thinking? She seriously needed some acting lessons or something. Quickly Yuuki tried to think of a story to cover this up. Why he had to do so was beyond him.

"I lied before. When she came up to me in the hall I told her to stop looking at me."

"You did?" Nodoka looked amazed. "I knew you were holding back something. What did she say to that?"

"She said that she didn't realize she was looking and would stop." Yuuki told her, then realized that sounded way to nice and personable for Manatsu. "I think she's just trying to annoy me."

"Yeah probably." Nodoka looked back at Manatsu and pouted. "A bit weird though."

And this behavior from Manatsu continued for the rest of the week. Yuuki figured she was trying to work out a plan on how to dump Keiji so bad it destroyed him. It was obvious she was holding up the other end of her deal. At no time during P.E. class did Keiji physically bully him. Whenever it came close to that, Manatsu skillful dragged him away without suspicion - though the more times she did it her motives were coming close to scrutiny. If she didn't break up with Keiji soon, there would be problems on her end.

On Friday Nodoka wasn't the only one noticing the apparent change in Manatsu. Her obvious looks and smirks towards whatever he was doing was painful to endure. All the girls immediately started talking about it whenever she left the room. Yuuki couldn't cover up for her anymore. Like Nodoka, the others wanted the inside scoop on what was going on. Yuuki had no answers that he could give.

"This sounds crazy, but maybe she likes you." Nodoka theorized with Yuuki during lunch.

"It does sound crazy." Yuuki glared at Manatsu, who once again turned her face from him. "This is going to drive me up the wall."

Nodoka arm was propped on Yuuki's desk as she rested her chin on her hand watching Manatsu some more. "She's not even bothering to hide it now. I think she really does like you."

"If you're trying to scare me, mission accomplished." Yuuki spoke with a nervous laugh.

"Think about it. She keeps looking at you, and how many times has she stopped Takeda from pushing you around lately?" Nodoka told her thoughts. "Something's up."

"Yeah." Yuuki had no more excuses.

Manatsu's terrible acting might ruin the whole thing. She had the rest of the day to officially dump Keiji in front of everyone. Friday was the deadline before he'd release one of her secrets. Why was she taking so long? Maybe he should have thought of something simpler for her peon brain to do.

P.E. class started as it normally did, and Yuuki went about his routine of trying to look busy but not actually doing anything. The P.E. Teacher couldn't careless as long as people were moving around. As he was fake playing basketball with Nodoka, Keiji suddenly appeared. It seemed it was 'Torture Yuuki' time. Everyone seemed to know this and slowly started to gather around, waiting for the show. Yuuki moved Nodoka into the crowd in as nonchalant way as possible so she wouldn't get picked on as well..

"Pathetic. You can't make a basket even if you're playing with a girl, can you?"

Yuuki had no response to this. All he could think of was the next bruise he'd get from Keiji, and the revenged he'd get on Manatsu for being such an idiot. She wasn't there to stop it this time.

"What, you got nothing to say?"

"Aw, forget about him, already, this is getting old." Megumi Takashima, one of Manatsu's minions, said from the crowd. "Everyday it's the same thing."

"No one asked you to speak did they?" Keiji turned on her.

But the girl's distraction was enough time for Manatsu to show up. Yuuki wondered how she was going to figure a way out of this one. She saw the situation immediately and Yuuki could tell her brain was working on overdrive. In fact it was actually a bit too obvious, Yuuki saw several of the crowd exchange looks.

Keiji looked at Manatsu with the same question look. "What is it with you lately?"

"It's boring picking on him." Manatsu responded, a bit too hasty.

"You never thought so before." Keiji eyed her. "Now that I think about it, all week you've been protecting this little puke. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on. Let's just leave it." She grabbed his arm and started to led him away.

He withdrew his arm with force, looking at her wildly. "What the hell? Tell me what's going on!"

"Not here." Manatsu said. Maybe Keiji would have went along with it, but she damned herself by shooting a quick look in Yuuki's direction, before she started to walk off.

"Wait. I saw that. No, we're doing this right here. What the hell was that look?" Keiji demanded.

"Fine, you want to do this now…. you asked for it." Manatsu stood up to her full impressive height. "I'm tired of you."

"What was that?"

"'What was that?'" Manatsu mimicked in a winy voice. "You heard me. I'm tired of your stupid face. I'm tired of your annoying voice. You look like a troll. You lumber around like a brainless monster with a limp. I'm tired of your bad breath. When I kiss you it makes me gag."

"Manatsu-san…" Keiji's voice had changed. "…let's talk about it somewhere else…"

"Oh no, you wanted to talk about it here with everyone looking so why not? We'll do what you want! Just like always. 'I want go see the new Kunoichi movie', 'I want to get Ramen at the same fucking shop we always go to', 'I want to you dress up in boys clothes.'. You You You. I'm tired of it."

"We don't always do what I want!" Keiji protested lamely, but was cut off.

"I only went out with you in the first place because I thought Asuta-kun was funny. But I never get to be around him anymore because you're too busy crying about your problems. I don't care if you're scared that people laugh at your overbite, or if your Mom hits you, or if you still wet your bed. In fact you're lame and pathetic. You're gross. You're the grossest creature I've ever met.!"

"S-Shut up!" Keiji shouted, rage and sadness welling up in his eyes.

"I'm sick of you, and your stupid tiny dick fetish. I'm dumping you."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Keiji wildly leaned back to throw a punch at Manatsu. She wasn't paying attention, as she was about to dive into another torrent of insults. As if his body was acting by instinct, Yuuki grabbed Keiji fist arm, which was reaching back for more pounding power. As if Yuuki was a gnat he swatted him off in an instant sending him to the ground. Once that was taken care of he then turned to Manatsu. But by this point, she realized what Keiji was doing and swiftly sunk the toe of her shoe firmly into his groin. He stumbled for a moment, then sunk to his knees in front of her, holding himself.

"Fuck you, Keiji." Manatsu told him. "I'll never had to listen to you begging for me to touch you ever again, you sick fuck."

"M-Manatsu.." Keiji breathed in heavily, tears dripping from his eyes from the pain of both being physically and emotionally attacked by her. "M-Manatsu!"

"Don't say my name ever again, loser. I hate you!"

"Stop it…" He whimpered pathetically. "Stop it."

"Oh look… he wet himself." Someone in the crowd said, and sure enough he was. Whether it was from the pain he felt or from the bladder control issue Manatsu described earlier, pee spread on the ground around him. Everyone in circling the scene stepped back.

"Manatsu!" Keiji repeated again, sounding pathetic as he was now sobbing. "Why… Manatsu!"

But she didn't say another word to him. Taking a moment, she picked Yuuki up from the ground, then walked off. Many eyes followed her amazed. The others were looking at Yuuki with equal shock. No one cared about Keiji anymore. Even his own friends were walking away from him. All but Asuta. Yuuki watched along with everyone else as he stood near Keiji. Everyone wondered what he was going to do.

"Tsk. Fucking loser." Asuta wiped his nose with his finger then started laughing. "What a fucking pussy."

"F-Fuck you Asuta!" Keiji shouted, but with his lower body drenched in urine the insult had no effect.

"Don't talk to me like that, Piss-pants." Asuta laughed and pushed Keiji's head to the ground. "See yah, chump."

And with that, all of Keiji's former minions left him, following their new leader in Asuta. Everyone went back to what they were doing, but mostly the spectacle that happened before them was on the forefront of everyone's conversations. Yuuki went back to faking playing basketball with Nodoka as the P.E. teacher continued to sleep.

Later as Yuuki left school, he found Manatsu waiting for him at the entrance gate. She was being completely obvious once again, but this time Yuuki didn't care. Keiji was dethroned. Never once had Asuta given a care if Yuuki existed so this power change was a good thing to him. Manatsu failing at being discreet was something he could let go for now. He was too happy. To his surprise Manatsu had a playful look on her face as well.

"You're happy with that, right?" Manatsu asked him.

"Yep." Yuuki tried to hide a grin. "Tonight I'll delete what I told you I would."

"I want to be there when you do it." She said.

"Fat chance I'm letting you anywhere near where I'm-"

"Yeah yeah… You can't blame me for trying." She sighed, but had a smirk on her face. "That was oddly fun. Treat me to something to drink or something. I want to celebrate."


	5. Chapter 5: Tricked

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

5. Tricked

Yuuki didn't know how she managed it, but Manatsu ended up talking him into celebrating at the Internet Cafe where it all started. Though she no clue about any of that. She also managed to get him to pay for everything. But he was in too good of a mood to care about little stuff now. He was more surprised that she seemed as happy as he did.

"You were right about me not liking Keiji." Manatsu explained loudly, a bit too rudely for a cafe. No one was going to stop her though. "I just was dating him because we had the same friends and I liked Asuta-kun alright."

"All that stuff you said about him was true?" Yuuki asked.

"Well I exaggerated…" Manatsu laughed. "He doesn't have bad breath."

"Oh, yeah that was horrible of you to say." Yuuki snickered.

"I was looking for a way out anyway, so I guess it worked out for the both of us." Manatsu tied it all together.

"Are you going after Toranaga now?" Yuuki couldn't help but wonder.

"Naw. I can't as long as you got that stuff on me." Manatsu reminded him darkly. "I'm not giving you the chance to mess with him or my other friends like you did with Keiji."

"Don't worry, Toranaga never messed with me, really." Yuuki assured her, not knowing why he had too.

"So… now that I did that…." Manatsu asked, looking slightly exposed. "You're going to delete that stuff right?"

"I told you I would."

"How can I trust you?" Manatsu asked. "I mean you're Blackmailing me after all…"

Yuuki had thought of this. That weekend when he researched proper ways of blackmailing he also found an app for smart phones that could connect to files he had stored on the internet. Technically he had all her secrets in several locations, not just a place on the internet, but showing her physical proof of something deleting would be enough for her.

"Let me see your phone." Yuuki said as Manatsu looked confused, but handed it over anyway. "I'm downloading something that will let me access my files. Don't get any smart ideas, I'm deleting the app as soon as I'm done. Plus only I know the correct passwords and such."

Then the app finished downloading and he logged into the service out of her sight, then he showed her all the files he had stored. Her eyes widened. She reached for the phone, but he withdrew it. "Sorry. I'll deleted the stuff I said I would now."

Selecting the files in question he deleted them, and let Manatsu watch the deletion bar build as those secrets were no longer a threat. With that, he deleted the app, just in case she got the urge to play around on it. He was sure she wouldn't and couldn't figure out how to use it, but it didn't hurt to be safe. When he was done, he showed her he deleted the app and handed her phone back to hr.

"There."

Manatsu looked at her phone's screen, even though it was just her wallpaper and sighed heavily. "I'm not stupid."

"Huh?"  
"I know you did this show just for my benefit. You probably have copies or something… but never the less, thanks." She looked up at him. "If you went this far, I know you'll delete the real files."

Yuuki couldn't help but smile a bit. She wasn't as dumb as she let on sometimes. "And here I thought I was being cool."

Manatsu shrugged. "So what now?"

Yuuki blinked not sure what she wanted. "Uh… you want a snack or something?"

"No, idiot. What else do I have to do?"

"Oh." Yuuki was surprised at this. "I'll let you know when the time is right." The truth was he had no plan. The reality was all he wanted was Keiji to leave him alone, and insurance that Manatsu wouldn't turn on him. He hadn't thought of anything else. But something inside him told him not to let his guard down too much with her. Tea and snacks was one thing, revealing his thoughts was another. "Besides after all you had to do this week, don't you want a break?"

"I guess so. I just want to get this over with" Manatsu looked disappointed. "Maybe I will get another cookie if that's okay."

"Alright, hold on." Yuuki got up and went to the counter.

It seemed odd doing something like this. Manatsu was such a bitch before all this, but she was being pretty nice. Yuuki wasn't fooling himself. He knew the only reason she was even putting up with him was because she wanted to get in his good graces so he'd let his guard down. She definitely wasn't the type just to be walked over. Then again, she was so bad at hiding her true intentions that Yuuki felt safe that he'd catch on to whatever she was thinking before she realized it.

When he returned with her cookie, she gave him a polite smile and took a bite. "So, what's the deal with you and that Odo girl?"

"Nothing." Yuuki shot out a bit to quickly for his liking. Manatsu was fishing. "She's a childhood friend."

"I see."

"Don't think about bullying her to get back at me." Yuuki said firmly.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it." Manatsu said in a fake innocent voice, but her tone became serious. "Besides, if you're not targeting Asuta-kun, I'll leave Oda alone. Even though this whole situation is bullshit, we got to follow some rules, right? Honor or something like that."

"Yeah." Yuuki agreed, and was surprised she was the one to bring this up. Secretly he had drew a line in his head he wouldn't cross, but he wasn't about to tell her what that was. Seemed she had done the same, or else was lying about her drawing the line somewhere..

"You have a sister, don't you?" Manatsu asked completely out of nowhere. "I think I saw her leave your house once."

"I do…." Yuuki wasn't sure where this was going.

"I have one too. She's about the same age. Is your sister 14?"

"13."

"Oh. Yeah I thought so." Manatsu bit into her cookie. "Do you get along?"

She's fishing again. Yuuki wondered if he gave her too much credit on her having a line she wouldn't cross. Why did she want to know about his sister anyway? "Do you get along with yours?"

"Not really." Manatsu said.

Yuuki knew this was partly true. He had read her emails. But he also knew she loved her sister. There was a reason why her password was her baby sister's nickname after all.

"Well I guess I'm done here." Manatsu finished her cookie and polished off the rest of the tea she had. As she stood up she spoke in a sarcastic voice. "We should do this more often, Yuu-kun."

"Yuu-kun?"

"That's what I'm calling you now." Manatsu told him as if her word was law.

"Fine… Natsu-chan." Yuuki called off to her in irritation.

Manatsu turned around and stuck her tongue at him, then walked out the cafe. He watched her go. As before his eyes were drawn to her tan legs as she walked away. He literally shook his head to get them out his brain. He didn't want to soften around her. She might not be the smartest person out there, but she still was a crafty girl and still was clever in her own way.

As he started home he thought about his new freedom. What would it be like not to be bullied everyday? What would be to not fear anyone? Manatsu was scary, but he had a hold of her. But everyone else he felt safe around. He'd keep an eye out for Keiji, but after what happened, he didn't think anyone could be scared of him anymore.

As he walked his phone rang. He looked at the number and didn't recognized it. He answered it, slightly confused on who it could be. "Yuu-kun!"

The hair on the back of his neck prickled. How the hell did she get his phone number? After a moment of sheer panic, he calmed himself down so his voice sounded casual. "Yeah?"

"Aw damn. I thought I'd startle you." Manatsu's voice laughed. "Oh well. I guess you caught me messing with your phone when you were getting my cookie."

"Is there something you wanted?" Yuuki's heart was slamming against his rib cage even while he was trying to sound unrattled.

"Not really." Manatsu sounded slightly disappointed. "Guess I'll have to try harder next time. Bye."

When she hung up, Yuuki took the opportunity to check his phone for anything she could have seen that she could use later. There was a few pictures of Tomoko, one of Nodoka, and a text from his father saying he wouldn't be home for dinner, but that was it. Sighing slightly he felt he dodged a bullet.

When he came home Tomoko was sitting in the living room playing an MMORPG on the playstation. Somehow she heard him come in and quickly logged off. It was as if she was expecting him to be covered in bruises. But on seeing his face she sighed a sigh of relief.

"So you're okay then."

"Yeah. I don't think you have to worry about me being beat up for a while."

"Really?" Tomoko looked curious. "Why not?"

"My idea with the girlfriend worked." Yuuki told her simply.

"I'm so relieved."

As they cooked dinner together, Yuuki briefly explained the break up, forgetting to mention the blackmailing part. He made it sound like he talked Manatsu into breaking up with Keiji on her own. Tomoko was surprised at how harsh the break up was but admitted she didn't feel sorry for Keiji. Kinda hearted Tomoko loved her bother the most.

After dinner, Yuuki played some games with Tomoko before he went upstairs. Sighing heavily he tossed his book bag on the floor and and slouched into his seat by his computer. After checking all his messages from the various social media sites he was a part of, then picked up his phone wondering if his parents texted him about anything. The only messages there were old ones. Just as he was about to set his phone down, suddenly a new text popped up. This made his skin crawl. Manatsu had his number now, and it was from her. He opened the message.

"Her eyes burn a fire into my soul…"

That was all, but that's all he needed to read. It was a line from one of his poems about Nodoka. Leaving his desk he reached his book bag and searched for his poetry journal. It was missing. Just when did she have time to steal that? He thought about the last time he saw it last. He couldn't remember using it all day except first thing in the morning.

His heart sunk. She could have taken it during a bathroom break, lunch, or even before or after P.E. There was plenty of time to steal it if she knew what she was after. And since she had been looking at him during class, she knew he used one notebook that wasn't for class. She had figured it out.

"That bitch." Yuuki shouted, tossing his book bag aside, as if it willingly allowed Manatsu to take his journal.

At that exact moment, his phone chimed as Manatsu sent another text. Willing himself to his feet, he went over to the phone and opened the next message.

"Got'cha."

"Fuck you." Yuuki murmured at the phone screen, knowing she couldn't hear him.

Taking a deep breath he tried to calm down and think about his situation. He still had all her dirty laundry. Her photo's alone were worse than anything he wrote. The most damning thing he could think of was his feelings for Nodoka. He still had the upper hand. But while before Manatsu had nothing to play on, now she had some leverage. She could bargain now.

He opened up a reply for Manatsu. This was a mind game now. He couldn't let her think got to him. Even if he was scared out of his mind about what she'd say to Nodoka.

Swallowing he typed in "Well played. But be careful what you do now. I can still bury you."

Manatsu knew the situation she was in, but she was going to take whatever jabs she could. Having been finally free of the constant threat of bullying now he had a new threat of Manatsu exposing his personal feelings to everyone. It was nerve wracking. What was better? Getting beat to a pulp every other day, or this? He honestly didn't know. He was angry with himself, angry that he got too cocky. She played him.

Another text. "…I long for the sweet taste of her lips…."

"That fucking bitch." Yuuki growled and logged off.


	6. Chapter 6: Boyfriend

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

6. Boyfriend

Manatsu tormented Yuuki through out the weekend. Every so often she'd post a line or two of his poetry in a text. She apparently was getting a kick out of reading about his personal feelings. Though it enraged Yuuki, he remembered what Manatsu hated the most was no response for something. So Yuuki would check his messages but wouldn't reply. By Sunday he could tell that the lack of feedback on his part was annoying her, as whole poems started being posted instead of a line or two. The ones she liked the best were the poems where Yuuki raged or feared over Manatsu herself.

When homeroom started on Monday, Yuuki had the whole weekend to calm down and think of a strategy. Manatsu wasn't the type to sit on something juicy, and it would bug her to not use it right away. So Yuuki had to act like he didn't care. Unfortunately this meant that his feelings for Nodoka might come to light. He thought about that too, and whether he should counter Manatsu's trump card and just tell Nodoka himself. He might pretend to be unfazed, but doing something like that seemed impossible when he saw her smile at him when she took her seat in front of him.

"Hey. Did you have a nice weekend?" Nodoka was running her fingers through her hair, looking at her reflection in the nearby window.

"I guess so. Kept getting stupid texts, but nothing too important."

"Oh." Nodoka shrugged then looked at him. "I got to go shopping on Saturday, so I'm pretty happy. I got some cute thigh highs."

"I'm really glad you decided to tell me about that." Yuuki teased her sarcasticly.

Nodoka giggled. "Hey, don't get cheeky!"

Yuuki's bliss ended when Manatsu entered the room and took her seat. He made extra sure he wasn't paying any attention to her, though he could tell she was looking at him again. She, no doubt, was thinking about ways she could best use his poetry against him.

Nodoka was looking at her for a moment, then she turned to Yuuki. "She's doing it again."

"I know. I think I can feel her eyes crawling through my skin now."

"Gross." Nodoka laughed. "Guess it bother you, huh?"

"It does and doesn't." Yuuki admitted to her. "I know she's just trying to get me to, but … it gets to me. I don't know if that makes sense."

"It does." Nodoka said, though it looked like she wanted to say more. It seemed like she was struggling to ask something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. "Takashima-san said… uh… well she said she saw her waiting for you out side of school on friday and that you two walked off together."

_That moron._ He knew people would have seen that. "She lives somewhere along the same path as my house. I see her every now and then on the way home. The day Takeda dressed me up in her gym uniform I talked her into giving back my outfit. Since then she likes to bother me when I walk home."

"Oh." Nodoka looked slightly annoyed. He had no idea why.

"I'm sorry it bugs you." Yuuki teased her again.

"No no… that's not what I meant." Nodoka smiled, but before she could elaborate class had started.

Other than Manatsu's eyes on and off him throughout the day, he had to admit that it was one of the better school experiences he had in a long time. The most tense he felt was during P.E. when he was sure Keiji might try something. Yuuki was finishing tying his gym shoes when Keiji came up behind him acting like he was going to cause trouble. Before anything could happen however, Asuta shoved him into the nearby looker. The save was a surprise but the way it went down was suspect.

"What do you think you're doing, Piss-pants?"

"Back off, man, this has nothing to do with you." Keiji tried to sound threatening. Before it would have worked, but now, after Manatsu had humiliated him in front of everyone, he just sounded pathetic.

"It has everything to do with me. Goto-san is in charge now and I don't like the way you look, Piss-pants."

"Fuck off, Asuta." Keiji pushed back. "That little puke had something to do with Manatsu breaking up with me. I'm going to kick his-"

"You don't mess with Goto-san's guy, got that?" Asuta pushed Keiji back into the lockers. "Just try something and you'll get everyone on your ass."

Asuta never looked at Yuuki. It was like he didn't exist. He just had a sparkle in his eye as he pushed Keiji around. Keiji looked scared at the idea of his whole former gang turning on him. They had official dropped him, but they hadn't threatened him yet. That alone seemed to make him back down.

"Okay, okay."

And that was the end of Keiji's story in Yuuki's life. One threat and that was it. Keiji didn't exist anymore. Asuta never acknowledge Yuuki when he finished roughing Keiji up, but he did nod to the door telling him it was safe to leave. For the rest of P.E. the conversation between the two bully's plagued Yuuki's thoughts. "…You don't mess with Goto-san's guy…" stuck in his head. Asuta made it sound like Manatsu told her group that they were dating.

The sky was turning into an ugly gray as Yuuki packed up to go home. As if it mirrored his thoughts, the Queen-Bee herself was once again waiting for him at the school entrance. This time it annoyed him. Something clearly was going on that he didn't know about, and now he was sure that these looks she was blatantly giving him in class had more to do than her being a horrible actress. It was the way Keiji acted, and what Asuta said… everything Nodoka observed now was pointing towards something else.

"Hey Yuu-kun." Manatsu greeted him as they started walking him.

"Hey Natsu-chan." Yuuki tried to ignore her, his brain still trying to work out what her ultimate goal was.

"I heard about Keiji. It won't happen again." Manatsu told him.

"About that…" Yuuki thought he'd just ask her directly. Even if she lied he'd learn something. "Toranaga told Takeda that I was 'your guy'. As soon as he said that Takeda backed down."

"He went and said that, huh?" Manatsu groaned slightly. "Oh well, guess I couldn't keep that quiet forever."

"What are you talking about?"

"My break up with Keiji… I started it Tuesday morning." Manatsu spoke in a disappointed voice. "Keiji hated you so I was going to use that to help me out. That's why I started letting people think that I liked you."

"Ah." Yuuki saw the whole picture now. Seemed pretty obvious on hindsight. "And I guess he bought it."

"Yep." Manatsu smirked.

"Then… well you're still doing it." Yuuki looked at her closely now, for the first time since they had started walking.

"I couldn't just 'stop liking you' after I broke up with Keiji. It would look weird. So I'm keeping up the act for now." Manatsu shrugged. "I guess my gang thinks there's more than me just crushing on you or something. Nevertheless, it saved you today, so that's good."

"But there's more to it than just that." Yuuki prompted her.

Manatsu rolled her eyes. "You just gotta be one step ahead of everything, huh? Well you're right, but I'm not going to tell you everything. You'll probably figure it out soon anyway."

There was something about the way she said that that made his body shiver. "Doesn't it bug you that your friends think we're a couple?"

"Nope." Manatsu spoke with not a care in the world. "I don't care about that sort of thing."

"But I care about-" Then he realized it. The secondary goal of Manatsu's plan was so simple he over looked it.

Laughing Manatsu poked his cheek and went "Bingo!"

"If I'm 'your guy' then no one else can be." Summed up her plan.

She had thought of that all the way back to last week? All the girls were scared of Manatsu, including Nodoka. And since Manatsu stoled his poetry journal and knew his true feelings for Nodoka, it made the idea all the more sweeter to keep Yuuki away from her. She just killed his social life, or any promise of one. Now that everyone thought he belonged to Manatsu, she owned him whether he liked it or not. Lost in his own thoughts, the sky started to sprinkle.

"Of course, you can use one of your favors to get me to stop." Manatsu spoke with glee in her voice. "But then my gang might not be so willing to protect you after I 'lose interest'. I wonder what they would think if you dumped me?"

Yuuki couldn't help but laugh. All this time he thought she was stupid. But she was a professional delinquent. he couldn't out think her in messing with people's lives. "Guess you got me."

"Damn right I did."

"You forgot one thing though." Yuuki placed his hands in his pockets. "In order to keep this up, you have to act like you like me all the time. So you don't really have a social life either. Guess you can't ask Toranaga out after all."

Manatsu's smile left her. "And poor innocent Odo-san has to watch as someone like me dates you."

Raising an eyebrow Yuuki tried to keep cool. She hated it when he wasn't bothered by her plans. "I guess stealing that journal was pointless. If we're going out you can't really expose me to Nodoka-chan."

Manatsu growled under her breath. "Don't act so big. My plan isn't perfect, but at least I get the satisfaction of making you suffer."

"So you're saying being with you as a girlfriend is a punishment?"

"Shut up." Manatsu's face was pink.

"I could hold your hand if it makes you feel better."

"Shut up!" Manatsu walked faster to leave him.

While he acted like it didn't bother him the truth was it did. Manatsu basically just stoled any chance he had with Nodoka, even if that chance was slim-to-none. In his mind she actually beat him in this situation. The best he could do is play the revenge game back and rub it in that she was also stuck with him. It really sucked. For now she was only acting like she had a crush on him, so for the time being he didn't have to worry about anything else.

He had to think smarter now. Manatsu's idea was too good, and while he held something over her, she still held something over him. She was probably going to toy with Nodoka now, just to get to him. He had to think of a way to ease Nodoka into Manatsu's world, without actually giving anything away. He couldn't out right tell Nodoka that Manatsu was taking revenge on him for blackmailing her.

He took out his phone and texted Nodoka. "I think you're right. Goto is acting like she likes me now. Something seems off about it though."

He re-read that hoping that was enough information without actually giving away anything either. Of course something was off about Manatsu liking him, she was way out of his league. But he hoped that Nodoka looked passed that and figured out on her own that Manatsu was using him and not that she really liked him.

A text from Nodoka returned. "Do you like her back?"

Yuuki's idea backfired. He couldn't say no. If he did Manatsu could play like she got dumped by a no body shrimp and her gang would retaliate and he'd have to use more favors to get them off his back again. He would have been better if he hadn't texted Nodoka anything.

"I'm scared of her." Yuuki texted, but didn't send it. Even that was too much. It would sound like Manatsu was forcing herself, in which case Nodoka would insist on being firm and dumping her and the whole cycle would begin again. He groaned in frustration and thought of something else to text. "I don't know."

"Don't say anything. Maybe she'll move on."

_Yeah right._ Yuuki thought to himself. "I hope you're right. Why would she like a loser like me anyway?"

"Stop calling yourself that."

Yuuki heart skipped a beat reading that. He knew it was just encouragement, but it meant a lot coming from her. As he looked at the text one more time, he got another from her.

"Just be careful, okay."

"I will."

Yuuki sighed. Manatsu was ruining everything. But part of him felt responsible for this whole mess in the first place. He was the one that decided to let Manatsu into his life. He knew full well what type of person she was, yet he decided to gamble. Then again, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have had the courage to even acknowledge he liked Nodoka, let alone think about asking her out. It seemed like a cruel circle. He'd just had to get his frustrations out by pestering Manatsu back. He knew she had a thing for Asuta, so he'd work that angle if she pushed Nodoka.

Coming home, Yuuki saw a note from his sister saying she was going at her friends Aoi's house and would probably be spending the night. Part of him was disappointed. He could forget about his troubles when he played games or watched TV with Tomoko. But he realized she had a life, and he didn't want to always push his problems onto her.

Yuuki went upstairs and was about to take a bath when his phone rang. Surprisingly it was Manatsu. He looked at her number, wondering if he had it in him to pick up. He still was depressed about the whole Nodoka situation. In the end he decided to ignore it. He didn't think he could take her taunting him at the moment, he just wanted to sit back and forget about everything. Her call went to voice mail.

As he went for the door, his phone rang again. Manatsu. He groaned, thinking he should assign her number with it's own ring tone. Something annoying. Smirking at the thought of it, he put his ringer on silence, and left the room. Maybe he could think of making the girl do a humiliating favor while he was in the bath. That might make him feel better. She needed to be reminded that she couldn't mess with him the way she thought she could.


	7. Chapter 7: Rain

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

7. Rain

As Yuuki bathed, he could hear heavy rain pound on the houses roof and windows. Every so often the lights would flicker, threatening a power outage. He was glad that Tomoko was safe at her friends house, but he still worried about her. After he dried off and got dress and he thought it might be wise to unplug his computer, tv, and playstation. Even though he had surge protectors, he never trusted storms.

But with no electronic entertainment, was left Yuuki completely bored. He thought about his homework, how it was stupid of him to finish it during P.E. He had gotten into the habit of doing that when he had the time, Nodoka was ignoring him, or if Keiji was harassing him. Since Keiji was out of the picture, P.E. was the perfect time to clear up his schedule. But now he had nothing to do.

The lights flickered again, and he thought he might as well keep a flashlight next to him in case the power did go out. But that only took a few minutes. He sat in the living room, looking at nothing. He wished for his journal. He could at least write something that happened. He was sure Manatsu was going to keep it, so he was resolved to start a new one.

As he was in the middle of counting the electrical sockets in the living room, a loud knock came to the door. As if to heighten the insanity that he had a visitor now, thunder rolled in the distance. The person knocked again. Putting his investigation of receptacle inventory on hold he went to the door. When he opened the door, he saw a very drenched Manatsu.

"What the hell?"

She rushed passed him and kicked off her shoes, which left a puddle where they landed. "Sorry for the intrusion."

Shutting the door he looked at her. She was still in her school uniform, her bare knees knocking from the cold. "C-C'mon. There is a bathroom downstairs. You can get undressed in there… I'll get some towels."

"Some clothes too would be nice." Her teeth chattered. Her hair was matted to her face, and her arms were hugging her midriff as she followed him, leaving a trail of water where she stepped.

Once she was in the bathroom, Yuuki went about the task of finding some towels, and searching his closet for clothes that might fit her. Nothing Tomoko owned would work, and his parents lived out of suitcases and only had business attire at home. After picking something out that, Yuuki was about to leave room until he remembered his Blackmail USB drive sitting on his desk. Snapping his fingers as if he couldn't believe how stupid it was sitting there, he hid it. That could have been tragic. Thinking of his journal, he also looked around his room to make sure he didn't have something else she could use against him. Finally satisfied he went downstairs.

He heard the shower going, so he opened the door a crack and called. "I got your stuff. I'll take your wet clothes and put them in the laundry while I'm at it."

"'Kay." Manatsu's voice echoed off the tile.

Leaving her to it, Yuuki used an extra towel to clean up the water mess she left behind when she entered. But once all the tasks were over, he found himself wondering why she was there in the first place. Obviously she had been caught out in the rain, but he was sure she lived in the area. It didn't make sense for her to come to his house when her's was just around the corner.

Thunder rolled again, as Manatsu came into the living room. She looked funny without her make-up, but still pretty. Her hair was wet, flat, and unfashioned, but he thought she still looked nice. But really stood out was her wearing his clothes. She had done this before, but it felt different than her wearing his gym uniform. Somehow it fit her well enough, even though she was taller and the shirt was a bit tight on her chest. Sadly it was all too apparent she had no underwear on.

"That's better." Manatsu sighed and jumped into the couch next to him. She wasn't wearing the guest slippers he gave her, she had bare feet. But then he noticed something else. Her left eye seemed to have a reddish swell around it.

"What happened to you?"

"I got caught out in the rain."

"Not that, your eye."

"Ugh, you noticed." Manatsu rubbed it as if that would fix the problem. "I hurt it."

He could tell she didn't want to talk about it, so he decided not to go into it. "So, why are you here? Don't you live down the street?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Manatsu said bluntly. Somehow the eye and her home seemed to be connected.

"Well… uh… what can we talk about?" Yuuki looked at her awkwardly.

"I tired to call you earlier." Manatsu told him, acting like she didn't hear his question. "But you didn't answer."

"Yeah I saw. I was busy."

"I can totally see that." Manatsu said sarcastically. "I was going to ask you properly if I could come over. But you were acting snobbish so I couldn't."

"I wasn't in the mood to talk to you is all." Yuuki defended himself. "But why did you want to come over here of all places?"

"No reason."

There obviously was if her eye was any indication. "Whatever. Are you hungry? Maybe we can eat something before the power goes out."

As if on cue, her stomach growled. Taking that as a hint, he went to the kitchen and started to whip up something quick. Manatsu followed him, looking around at the family pictures and such.

"So you cook, huh? I thought your sister would do that."

"We both cook."

"Where is she, anyway?" Manatsu looked around as if Tomoko was hiding somewhere nearby.

"She's at friends house."

"Oh. So we're all alone."

Her saying that made him nervous. He hid it by continuing to work in the kitchen. She sighed and rubbed her eye again. From fleeting glances he could tell both of them were watering, whether from pain or whatever emotional situation she was dealing with. He didn't want to think of Manatsu as human, so he thought if he cheered her up, she'd return to being a bitch and he could go back to loathing her.

"It's weird seeing you in my clothes."

"Is it?" Manatsu puked one of her boobs and went "Or do you mean is it weird seeing me without a bra?"

Despite himself, Yuuki blushed. Manatsu laughed, as there was no way he could have hid it. "Stop it."

Manatsu continued laughing. "Oh don't get so touchy. They're just boobs."

Yuuki ignored her. He didn't want to feed her any more material.

Cooking the meal went without a hitch, though Yuuki was iffy on the power situation throughout. The lights kept dimming while he was in the kitchen and the thunder seemed to be getting closer. When they were halfway through the meal, the power officially went out, but came on almost immediately. Even Manatsu looked startled.

"We better shovel this down quick before it does it again." Yuuki told her.

She followed his led and they ate quickly. No sooner than he was about to take his last bit, the power went out again. This time it stayed off. Both of their eyes weren't used to the dark, so they sat in complete darkness for a few moments. As his eyes started to adjust, he could make out Manatsu's profile and even some of her features.

"I think I can see well enough to find my flash night now."

"O-Okay." Manatsu said, her voice shaking slightly.

After some effort, he found the flashlight and turned it on. Manatsu looked relieved even as the rain pelted hard on the walls of the house. Using the light to put their dishes in the sink, he led Manatsu into the living room again. He handed her the flashlight, feeling that she'd need it more than him to navigate. Once she had it, she turned it off. Then there was dead silence, except for the sounds of the weather.

"Say something." She demanded.

"I don't know what to talk about." Yuuki told her truthfully.

"We can't just sit here in the dark and not say anything." Manatsu grumbled.

"Well you say something then."

There was a pause. "Where am I going to sleep?"

"I guess you can take my bed." Yuuki hated the idea of her being in his room. But he wasn't about to let her sleep in his parents room, his sisters, or be alone in the living room.

"What, so I can get my scent all over your bed?" Manatsu joked, referring to one of his poems. The quip was half hearted and there wasn't any bite to it. She was nervous.

"I'll just have to deal with it. I'll sleep in my sisters room so you don't have to worry about anything."

"You won't sleep in the same room?"

"No, why would it?"

"It's… it's dark."

"So. it's usually dark when at night."

Manatsu sighed heavily. "I don't want to be alone in a stranger's house."

"Isn't it worse being alone with a stranger?"

"I don't know. I can just punch you if your try something." Manatsu reasoned.

"Well I can't sleep in my room, we don't have any guest futons or anything. I sure as hell am not sleeping on the floor."

"You're such a baby." Manatsu grumbled.

Thunder boomed as she finished that sentence and she squeaked. Not being able to help himself, Yuuki laughed. Manatsu threw one of the couch's pillows at him. But it was still funny.

"Let's just go to bed early. We can't do anything in the dark." Manatsu said, turning on the flashlight.

Seeing nothing wrong with that logic, Yuuki led her to his room. She went to his bed and sat down on it. The vague idea of a girl sitting on his bed for the first time creeped into his mind, but he fought it out. He didn't want to think of Manatsu as a girl. Even if she was clearly not so keen on thunder and lightning. The problem with the sleeping arrangements still hadn't been settled. So he stood there by the doorway, trying to figure out what to do next. But when another round of thunder happened, she got up and pulled him back to the bed with her.

"I can't stay here…"

"Shut up." Manatsu spoke quickly. "For tonight, we'll call a truce okay. Just … don't go."

So they laid down next to each other. She was hugging his arm, but other than that, he was trying his best not to touch her. Her face was just inches from his on the pillow so he laid on his back to keep from staring at her. She, was on her side facing him, not acting like her usual cocky self. It was getting harder to imagine her as an enemy when she was acting like that.

Through the rain, he could hear her sniff a few times, and he realized she was crying. Now he really felt uncomfortable. He wondered if part of the reason she was crying was because of the whole blackmail business. It certainly couldn't be because of a stupid storm.

"Uh… Goto-san…"

"Damn it." She whimpered. "I thought I was doing good job at keeping that to myself."

"Are you alright?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She murmured again.

He realized it had to do with why she ran away from home, and why her eye was hurt. "We're on a truce, right?"

She nodded, forgetting it was dark, but he could tell that's what she did because of her closeness. Summoning up every ounce of courage he had, he turned to his side, and embraced her. She stiffed at first, but then held him as well. "I realized you don't want to talk about it, so I'll do this instead, okay?"

He couldn't see her properly, but after a moment of realization, she took him up on his offer and cried into his shoulder. Yuuki found himself holding her back and petting her hair, his mind was racing the whole time. This was the same girl he hated? She was so different now. There was no way she was playing him now, she wasn't that good… and there'd be no reason for her too. Hating himself he was feeling sorry for her.

When she had finished crying, she didn't move, she just wanted to be held. So he kept holding her giving the occasional pet when she prompted for it. After a while she pulled her face level with his, reaching up to rub under her eyes. He let go of her, figuring that the truce was over.

"You must think I'm pathetic." Manatsu croaked. Her voice sounded broken from crying.

"I do normally, but not now." Yuuki joked.

She laughed a bit. "What an odd relationship we have. Tomorrow we'll go back to hating each other, but right now…"

"We can hate each other now if it'll make you feel better."

"No, I like being in a truce at the moment." Thunder cracked again and she clung to him. "Fuck!"

"It's crazy that you're scared of thunder." Yuuki laughed again.

"Whatever." Manatsu spout out lamely. "I want to calm down."

"What did you have in m-" But he couldn't complete what he was saying. Her lips were pressed against his before he could finish talking. Manatsu, the girl he hated most in the world, was kissing him.


	8. Chapter 8: Fallout

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

8. Fallout

Waking with a start, Yuuki sat up in bed, looking franticly at his side. He had the strangest dream that the night before Manatsu was sleeping in the bed next to him, and that for a good part of the night they were making out. But when he looked down at the space next to him no one was there. For a split second Yuuki felt relief, but that relief was short lived. Standing in the middle of his room looking at her smart phone was the girl in question.

She looked up from it and smiled an exhausted looking smile. "Nothing from the school yet. You still don't have power though."

"Wha-" Yuuki brain hadn't fully awakened yet.

"I thought if a lot of people still didn't have power then the school would text us." Manatsu pouted.

"Oh…." Yuuki rubbed the back of his head, trying to ignore the memory of last night that was starting to replay in his mind. He reached for his own phone. "I should check on my sister."

After making sure Tomoko was doing alright, and telling her about everything (minus Manatsu being there) he hung up, tossing his phone on the bed next to him. School still hadn't text anything, so that meant he had to get ready. He was running late, thanks to the lack of an alarm clock.

"C'mon we're going to be late." He told her and walked over to where his uniform was hanging.

"I can't go today." Manatsu told him. "My uniform is still in your laundry… and the power went out."

"Oh yeah."

"I'll just go home." She shrugged.

Even though she said that, she didn't leave his room as he changed. He told her to leave but she just stuck out her tongue out at him and sat on the bed expecting a show. So he ignored her and dressed in front of her. Once he was finished he pocketed his phone and grabbed his school bag. The two went downstairs and placed Manatsu's wet clothes into a bag for her to take home. In no time, the two were at his door. It was still raining, so Yuuki grabbed his and Tomoko's umbrella.

"Sorry to throw you out but…" He gave her his umbrella

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Manatsu yawned, opening the umbrella.

As Yuuki was starting on his way, he stopped feeling her stilling looking at him. "What is is?"

"Last night… that was a truce. Don't go making anything out it other than what it was."

"Fine, whatever."

And they left. Manatsu might say that, but the reality was that she stoled his first kiss. There was no way he could just think about it as fooling around. He never got to second base before either; another first. It was an odd feeling. On the one hand he did think of it as meaningless, as Manatsu was a person he didn't care about at all, but at the same time it did mean something as they were first time experiences.

Getting to school was tricky. He soon learned that large areas were flooded. Even if his route was relatively fine, it still was tricky navigating to get there. Once he arrived at school, the situation was all the more clear. A number of students couldn't or wouldn't come to school, and that was the same for the teachers.

In his homeroom only five students were there, including him. Thankfully Nodoka was one of them. Another one was Megumi Takashima, one of Manatsu's minions. Their homeroom teacher was also missing, so one of the other teachers who braved the weather was sitting in.

"Since it's like this, the school is letting out early today. No lessons, so you can use the time here as a study period, and we'll count your attendance as special credit to a low test grade."

There literally was no point to be there. Yuuki stayed however, as Nodoka hadn't done her homework and he could be with her longer. She wasn't getting much done as the five in the room were more socializing than they were studying. The substitute teacher didn't care. She was the music teacher and no one in the class was her students.

"My power is on, but I had to take a detour to get here. It sucks, I could have stayed home." Megumi was telling them. Since Manatsu wasn't around, she was top dog, and no one dared to interrupt her.

"Mine is still out." Nodoka told her, completely abandoning her math homework. "I spent most of the night trying to calm my little brother down."

Everyone gave their account of the events, except Yuuki. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to lie about Manatsu not being there without it sound like he was omitting something. Unfortunately, Megumi wasn't in the same mindset and was getting what little gossip she could while she could.

"What about you Togawa?" She asked him. "Manatsu-san said she was going to crash at your place, did she make it to your house before the rain got too bad?"

Everyone turned to him, eyes wide. The most astonished was Nodoka. Yuuki shifted in his chair, feeling their curiosity eating away at him. Just why would Manatsu tell anyone about that? Was it just her trying to get back at him some more?

"What are you talking about?" Yuuki tried to play dumb, and fish for more information.

"She came to my house yesterday but wasn't really talkative. When it started raining I told her she could stay with me, but she said she wanted to be alone and left. Later she called me and said she got caught in the rain and she was going to try to crash at your place, but you weren't picking up the phone so she might have to turn back. But she never called back so I assumed you let her in."

"Why didn't she just go home?" Yuuki wanted to know.

"I don't know, that's none of my business." Megumi told him, but noticed that he was not denying Manatsu being at his house. "So she was there, huh?"

"Yeah." Yuuki couldn't deny it anymore. Nodoka was staring a hole in his head. "She was caught in the rain and when I answered the door she invited herself in."

Megumi laughed. "That sounds like her."

Nodoka shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "So she was at your house then…"

Not being able to look her in the eye he nodded. "What I don't get is why."

Rolling his eyes, a guy who Yuuki couldn't remember the name of laughed. "A pretty girl drenched from the rain takes refuge in your house and you're complaining? You really are some kind of weirdo, aren't you?"

"In case you have forgotten…" Yuuki glared at him. "…she was part of the group that was picking on me up until a while ago. I didn't really like the idea of being completely alone with-"

"Your sister wasn't there?" Nodoka interrupted him. "It was just the two of you?"

"Uh…."

Megumi snorted. "I shouldn't be saying this, but you're off limits. No one will pick on you now."

"What do you mean?" Nodoka asked in Yuuki's place, though he already knew the answer.

"Well it should be obvious." Megumi sighed. "Everyone is already talking about it."

"About how Goto-san seems to be interested in Togawa-san?" The boy from before asked.

"Yep. She hasn't said anything to us, but we've seen her act this way towards guys she's liked before. So we decided on our own not to mess with him. We don't want to make Manatsu-san upset or anything."

"So she really does like him…." Nodoka blinked looking down at her unfinished math homework.

"You didn't hear it from me." Megumi quickly said, but continued gossiping. "Of course I can't say for 100% certainly, but she could have avoided 'taking refuge' at Togawa's house if she didn't have to leave my house in the first place."

Yuuki groaned. "You're not a very good friend telling everyone this, you know."

He lashed out to her more because of how Nodoka was acting. Even if there was no chance of them being together, he was sure Nodoka was worried that he was getting involved with someone dangerous. She still was his friend after all. What he wouldn't give to read her mind and know the full truth of what she thought.

"Who the hell do you think you are to call me a bad friend?" Megumi shouted at Yuuki defensively.

"I don't know if she likes me or not, but it should be her decision to confess, not yours. And what if she doesn't like me the way everyone thinks she does? You're just going to cause her a bunch of trouble with these rumors."

"Heh, don't think that just because we're not attacking you means you can just act like how you want too." Megumi stood up.

"You're just angry that I pointed out what a bad friend you are, not because you actually care about Goto-san's feelings." Yuuki stood up as well. "Delinquents like you make me sick."

Megumi's eyes started to water a bit. "I do care about Manatsu-san. You're full of shit."

After a long stare down moment, Megumi swore at Yuuki some more, gathered her things, and left the room. The substitute teacher hiccuped. Everyone else looked at Yuuki, as he sat back down, trying to pretend that everything he did was perfectly natural. Truth was he just stood up to a bully and wasn't the least bit frightened by it. That wasn't normal at all.

"You must think highly of Goto-san if you defended her honor like that." The idiot boy from before said.

"You can't defend someone's honor when they don't have any." Yuuki spat out. He wanted it to be clear that he wasn't sticking up for Manatsu, even though a little part of him was.

"Forget about that. Did anything cool happen when she was over your house?" The boy continued to press the topic. Everyone was curious about this, even Nodoka.

"She took a shower, I gave her some of my clothes-"

"Oh man." The guy leaned back in his chair. "I bet she had no bra on."

"You're a pervert." Nodoka shot out.

"Hey, I don't care. She's got some big boobs. That must of been Heaven on Earth seeing her like that."

"We ate something I cooked…" Yuuki ignored him. "…then the power went out so we had nothing to do. We decided in the end to go to sleep early and we did. That's it."

"Where did she sleep?" The boy asked, with a wicked grin.

"My room." Yuuki shrugged. "I didn't want her rooting around in my sisters room. Since she was gone, that's where I was."

The lie came out naturally and sounded true. What was he becoming? Manatsu was turning him into someone he didn't recognize anymore. The boy seemed happy that Yuuki let Manatsu sleep in his bed, but everyone else called him a pervert again. If only that guy knew that those breasts he was drooling over were in Yuuki's hands hours before. No one would ever know unless Manatsu herself said something, and he knew she wouldn't.

"So that's all that happened then?" Nodoka asked.

"She scared me this morning. I forgot she was there, and when I woke up she was standing over me with her phone." Yuuki said, thinking throwing in something embarrassing would end the topic. "Turned out she was about to wake me up because the school hadn't texted her about closing."

"Maybe she was taking photos of you?" Another guy suggested.

"Why would she?" Yuuki shrugged, but now was wondering if she was. There'd be no reason for her to, but then again she wasn't that predictable of a person.

"What did she look look like in your clothes?" The pervert boy was back on that topic.

"Like she did in my gym clothes. Horrifying." Yuuki narrowed his eyes at the guy.

Nodoka laughed slightly. "Well I'm just glad everything worked out. I'm still curious on why she didn't just go home."

Yuuki was too. Megumi knew that Manatsu didn't have to leave her house while it raining just to go to some guy's house. But Yuuki was also sure that the delinquent's bruised eye and not wanting to go home played a factor in the story. She might of not wanted to be around Megumi, who may have been pestering Manatsu about her eye. Megumi seemed the sort to drive a person out in the rain.

"Hey… what did she look like in her wet school uniform?"

"Will you shut up about that already!" Yuuki groaned, and the boy sitting next to him slapped the perverted boy on the top of the head.

After Yuuki helped Nodoka with her math, he went home himself. He wondered if his sister had school and made it back as well. Then again, he couldn't blame her if she decided to say with her friend another night. The journey home was worse than it was in the morning, and the bottom of his feet were soaked by the time he got home.

The house was empty again, but the power had been restored sometime when he was gone. He checked the refrigerator to see if anything had gone bad from the power-outage, but thankfully everything was okay. Wondering about his sister again, he checked his phone to see if Tomoko had left a message. Apparently she was flooded in, and wouldn't be back again that night. He'd be alone, again.

Feeling a bit self cautious, Yuuki went to the laundry room and changed out of his uniform, and placed it in to the wash. Then walking in his boxers, he went to his room. This bed was still unmade from the night before. He remembered that Manatsu was awake before he was, and with the image of her rummaging through his things in his mind, he went about his room and looking for something out of the ordinary. His USB Drive was still hidden, and the only that looked amiss was a photo album, though to be fair it only looked amiss because he was looking for something that looked odd.

He looked through the album, just to be sure. No pictures were missing, but then again why would there be? It was just family photos. There were a few pictures of Nodoka, but that's to be expected from a childhood friend. Sighing he placed it back on the bookshelf and considered himself paranoid. If Manatsu was digging around, he didn't see anything that she could have used for plot. Seemed the only thing she was interested in the night before was making him a nervous wreck. Mission accomplished.


	9. Chapter 9: Girlfriend

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

9. Girlfriend

The next day the school was closed, but Tomoko managed to get home. The day after that the schools were open again, as the flood spots were drained enough for safe travel. Yuuki secretly wondered what would happen when he'd see Manatsu again, but when school started up again, she acted as if nothing happened. The tension in the class room though was different. Seemed one of the five blabbed about Manatsu being at Yuuki's house and now everyone was interested in the drama.

For Manatsu's part, she pretended nothing was amiss, and continued her act of shy looking at Yuuki when she thought he wouldn't notice. But it was painful now how obvious it was, as every time she did so, a whispered conversation started up about it. It bugged Yuuki to no end, and to his surprise Nodoka seemed just as bothered by it as he did.

"I wish she'd just say something…" Nodoka told him during lunch break. "…that way you can dump her and be done with it."

"Y-Yeah." Yuuki felt nervous on the topic. "The problem is… is she the type of person you can dump?"

Nodoka sighed heavily. "I know what you mean. What would be worse, dating someone you don't like or being picked on again?"

"I'm just hoping she'll find some other loser to have a crush on. If she's aiming for me, then her goals aren't very high."

"Don't talk about yourself like that." Nodoka scolded him with an annoyed look on her face. "If she does like you, it's for a good reason. And it's not because she's into losers."

"Then how do you explain Piss-Pants?" Yuuki asked, referring to Keiji. Everyone called him that now.

Nodoka didn't answer.

The rest of the week continued like this. Everyone was waiting for either Yuuki to make a move or for Manatsu to. But it ended with nothing happening. Everyday after school Manatsu would walk with him, and laugh about the whole thing, trying to rub in she was making Yuuki's life miserable. But Yuuki knew how to play her game. He acted as if he couldn't careless. He could tell the longer this went on, the longer it annoyed her.

The start of the next week was more of the same. That was until Wednesday came along. That morning, he noticed Manatsu was wearing an wrist brace. Before homeroom he broke his normal routine of ignoring her to asked her about it. He didn't know why he did it, it just happened automatically.

"Oh this? I have a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. Since I do some digital work on my modeling photos sometimes it acts up." She spoke in a low voice. "Why do you care anyway?"

Yuuki didn't know and told her so. "Just don't over do it...be careful."

The day would have been the same as any other day if several people hadn't noticed they had a small conversation before class. Now people were talking about that whenever she did her looking act. It was driving him up the wall, but he wasn't going to lose this round and break first. He'd just keep ignoring her as long as he could.

At lunch, Nodoka was at Yuuki's desk as always, but within moments of her joining Manatsu came walking up to the pair of them. Nodoka noticeably seized up, and Yuuki felt bad for her. Being another girl in the presence of Manatsu was dangerous. Manatsu seemed not to care or notice Nodoka's change in posture and looked directly at Yuuki.

"Hey. Want to eat lunch with me?"

It sounded like more of a command. Yuuki rubbed the back of his neck, wondering what he should do. Nodoka obviously was the issue here. He couldn't just let Manatsu bully her, but then again, leaving his desk to join Manatsu was giving her too much power.

"Y-You don't have to, if you don't want too…" Manatsu skilfully stammered like she was shy. Yuuki knew better.

"Ummm…" Nodoka squeaked, willing herself to speak from her fear. "…You can join us if you want."

Nodoka. Sweet stupid Nodoka. Yuuki could have slapped her in the back of head for giving Manatsu permission to join them. Yuuki didn't look weak from leaving the table, but it still gave Manatsu a foot in the door to join them whenever she wanted. A gleam appeared in the delinquents eye as she pulled a seat and sat down with them.

"You're Nodoka Odo, aren't you?" Manatasu actually sounded polite for once.

"Oh. Yeah. That's me." Nodoka was not thrilled at Manatsu knowing who she was.

"I see you with Yuu-kun all the time." Manatsu spoke with a slight bite to it, though it was in very low undertones.

"Yuu-kun?" Nodoka blinked. "You're calling Yuuki-chan that?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be fun." Manatsu looked at him. "He doesn't like it very much though."

"Who would?" Yuuki tried to act unfazed, but the fact of the matter was that Nodoka was still around, and he couldn't play his best game with her in the crosshairs.

"When we walk home, I call him that." Manatsu continued. "He gets back at me by calling me Natsu-chan. It's stupid I know… but I kinda think the nickname war is kinda cute."

"Cute?" Nodoka was looking at Yuuki now. "So you have that kind of relationship?"

"Relationship?" Yuuki shook his head. "Don't let her mess with your head too."

"Yeah…we aren't going out." Manatsu told her, but Yuuki heard the planted sadness in that statement. "But I can forgive him for not asking me out… when he's got a cute girlfriend like you around."

"Huh?" Both Nodoka and Yuuki both exclaimed at the same time.

"You and Yuu-kun are so close, aren't you going out?"

Inwardly he hoped Nodoka was smart enough to say yes. Even if she was lying, that lie would mean Manatsu's plan was destroyed. And with his Blackmail material Manatsu couldn't take out her failure out on Nodoka. All she had to do was lie, just once in her life, she just had to lie. Nodoka was looking down at her lunch, her cheeks slightly pink. He knew she didn't have it in her.

"The truth is, Yuuki-chan and I are just childhood friends." Nodoka spoke softly. "That's why I'm always around him…and care about him as much as I do. I don't want to see him get hurt."

"I see." Manatsu sounded relieved. "So you're not a couple."

"No," Nodoka said, then looked from her lunch. "B-But, like I said, I don't want to see him get hurt anymore."

Manatsu looked slightly taken aback. Yuuki couldn't blame her. Nodoka never stood up to her before. "I get it. You've heard about those rumors." Manatsu looked at the ceiling. "Yeah, I know people are talking about me behind my back. I've been trying to ignore it all this time, but I can't tell people to shut up if what they are talking about is true."

"You mean you really do like Yuuki-chan?" Nodoka asked.

"Damn." Manatsu smirked slightly. "I was hoping to tell him all cool like, but I guess that's impossible."

What the hell was her game now? Yuuki wanted to drag her out of the hall and question her. But even if he had the balls to do that, he knew she wouldn't tell him. She was enjoying every minute of this. He'd have to wait and watch it play out before he could make a move.

"I'm sorry but… but I don't approve." Nodoka tried to look strong. "A girl like you isn't the right type for someone like Yuuki-chan."

"I know." Manatsu sighed. "Why do you think I haven't asked him out yet? If I did, he'd just say yes because he's scared of what might happen if he didn't. This sort of thing really sucks."

Nodoka looked confused. "You really do like him, huh?"

"I told you I did."

"And what do you think about all this Yuuki-chan?" Nodoka asked.

_Damn it. _ Yuuki seethed. "I think she's way out of my league." That's all he could think of to say. He couldn't outright deny her, who knows what might happen if he did.

"You know, I'm tired of that excuse." Manatsu leaned against the desk. "Boys won't ask me out because their are scared of me, or think I'm too pretty or something. I don't care about any of that. If I like someone, I like them. And I… I like you Yuu-kun. Don't you think I'm pretty at all? Or do you hate me because of what Keiji used to do to you?"

"I don't hate you-"

"I broke up with him so he'd leave you alone you know. You saw what I did… It's because I want to be with someone like you."

"Don't say such ridiculous things." Yuuki forgot himself, but she was on a roll.

"I know! It's crazy! But I see how sweet and kind you are and I thought 'I wish the boys who liked me were like that.' I know, with my reputation that it'd seem like I'd want to be with some real hard asses, but that's just it. I'm around those people all the time and … I just want to be myself… and not put on a show for someone."

"Why me though?" Yuuki muttered. He knew why she chose him. He was blackmailing her.

"Well… I guess I didn't like that Keiji singled you out. I was around watching the whole thing, and I could tell you didn't hate me. Even though I wasn't doing anything to stop it. I guess that's when I knew…"

Nodoka was looking lost. "I completely misjudged you." Yuuki inwardly moaned. Nodoka was falling for the act hook, line, and sinker. "But, I don't know if I trust you with Yuuki-chan's well being."

Manatsu smirked again. "Ordinarily I'd tell you to take a hike… when I want something I just take it. But I know I can't do that with Yuu-kun. I don't want another follower… I want a real boyfriend. You're annoying me, but… I want your approval."

"M-My approval? Yuuki-chan, do you even like her?" Nodoka asked.

Yuuki struggled to come up with an answer, but Manatsu broke in. "I guess it isn't fair to ask him that. He's afraid if he says no then I'll get revenge on him. Everyone always thinks I'm like that."

The look on Nodoka's face pained Yuuki. She was giving into Manatsu's nonsense. "But it's a fair question. If he answers you truthfully, will you promise not to do anything bad."

Manatsu grinned. "Yup."

_Fucking hell._ Yuuki was screaming in his head. Manatsu's eyes were glued to his now, he could see her laughing inwardly at him. She had him now, and used Nodoka in order to do it. If he said no, he knew for a fact she wouldn't live up to her promise. Then he'd have to use one of his blackmails and the whole cycle would begin again."

"I told you before that I didn't hate you." Yuuki said, looking away.

"But you don't like me, do you?" Manatsu sounded disappointed.

"I didn't say that either." Yuuki tried to sound convincing. Nodoka would know if he was putting on an act. "I think you can be a good person… I just never know what I'm going to get when I'm around you. The delinquent or the girl."

"Truth is, I don't know either. I-I was hoping you can help me with that." Manatsu looked shyly, overacting just a bit. Nodoka didn't notice. She was too busy studying Yuuki. "I didn't wake up one morning and become like this…"

"I don't know why you like me." Yuuki felt miserable, but tried not to show it.

"Me either." Manatsu said. "But I want to be with you. Do you how hard this is for me to admit something like this?"

"I got an idea." Nodoka interrupted the daytime soap opera that was happening. "What if we start off with just a normal date… and see how things go from there?"

It killed Yuuki to hear Nodoka suggest that. It just further informed him that she never saw him as a boy, just a friend.

"A date?" Manatsu asked. "Why not? If we don't get along then I'll drop the whole thing."

He knew she wouldn't drop it, but he had no choice but to agree on the date. Nodoka had crushed his spirit. Even if he had the option of refusing, he wouldn't. "Alright…"

As Yuuki and Manatsu walked home from school that day, his heart felt heavy. Nodoka didn't seemed bothered in the least about what happened. In fact she cheered up, as she no longer had to worry about this particular problem anymore. It was almost too cold for words to describe. Manatsu on the other hand was beaming from her win. And that's what it was, she had stolen any slim chance he had with Nodoka.

"So where are we going on our date?"

"Huh?"

"Our date, were are we going?"

"No where. We're not going on a date. You're my 'girlfriend' now so what does it matter if we go on a date or not. No one will be there to see if we actually go out anywhere. So what's the point?" Yuuki reminded her, unable to hide his defeat in his voice.

"Don't be such a sour loser." Manatsu laughed. "Let's go out. I want to really rub it in."

"How kind of you." Yuuki stewed.

"Hey hey… don't give up now, kid." Manatsu rubbed the top of his head. "You can still come out on top!"

Yuuki pushed her hand off, as she continued giggling at her victory. Nodoka's face flashed in his mind. How relaxed it was. Part of him wanted revenge on her too. How could she be the one to seal his fate like that? He looked at Manatsu skipping in front of him, and his bitterness towards her lessened. She was just trying to get even with him, he couldn't blame her. But he wasn't going to make her victory sweet. With poison in his heart he decided to steal her social life as well.

"Maybe you're right. Might as well take advantage of finally getting a girlfriend." Yuuki spoke in a quiet voice. But Manatsu stopped skipping when she heard him. "It might not be ideal, but might as well enjoy myself."

"Huh?" Manatsu turned around. "You know this is just a joke, right?"

"Hey, this was your idea. Let's go out on Friday."

"You're really going to go through with this, huh? Okay, Yuu-kun, you're on. Don't cry when I crush you."


	10. Chapter 10: Date

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

10. Date.

School life changed for Yuuki as soon as everyone figured out that Manatsu and him were going on a date on Friday. It wasn't speculation anymore, there was a conclusion the month's long drama. Manatsu wasn't too pleased with Yuuki on the Wednesday afternoon they had decided on the date, but on Thursday she changed her tune. It seemed both of them were going to go all out on trying to ruin each others social lives. The only problem for Manatsu was, she had already won.

Nodoka's approval was heart breaking before, but now that she was actively suggesting romantic date scenarios it was soul crushing. She was enjoying her role as the matchmaker. To her, she was finally getting her shy, sheltered friend a girlfriend, and that made her happy. She even started pulling Manatsu aside to talk to her about various things about Yuuki's personality, likes and dislikes. It was horrible.

Friday afternoon Manatsu's friend Megumi pulled him aside at the shoe locker. He wondered what all this was about, but saw she was struggling with whatever it was she was trying to say.

"I won't hurt Goto-san, if that's what you're going to say."

"Like you could. That's not what I wanted to say." Megumi breathed in, then resolved herself to just say whatever it was. "Thank you for… for setting me straight."

"What do you mean?"

"On that day when we were talking about Manatsu-san spending the night at your house, you told me I wasn't being a good friend." Megumi reminded him. "I realized you were right. I've been thinking about it all this time, and I see that I haven't been. So I'm going to change that about myself and I just wanted to thank you."

"Oh…well you're welcome, I guess." Yuuki scratched his nose, not sure what he could say about that.

"And… even though I just said all that about Manatsu-san, that she's my friend… I want to tell you to be careful." Megumi looked ashamed. "None of us really know her, but what we all do know is that she likes messing with people. I don't know if that's the case here but … just be careful, okay."

"Thanks." Yuuki smiled at her.

As he left the main building and headed out the school entrance, he saw Manatsu waiting for him. She looked curious to what he and Megumi were talking about, as she no doubt could see them talking, but to her credit she didn't ask. Yuuki knew it was killing her, so kept it secret.

"So where are we going?" Manatsu asked. "Do I need to change or anything?"

"It's just a first date." Yuuki told her. "I was just planning on going somewhere to eat, maybe hang out somewhere afterwards."

"Typical." Manatsu smirked. "But not boring. I think it would be more fun if we changed clothes and met somewhere."

"If you want." Yuuki shrugged. "Is there any place you want to go in particular?"

"Hmm." Manatsu thought about it. "There is this ramen shop…"

"Not the same one you were talking about when you breaking up with Piss-Pants?"

"No, not that one. That one was really cheap and near his house. That's why we went there. There is this other one that's by the Cinema. I really like that place."

"I know where that is." Yuuki could picture it in his mind. "Do you want to meet there in two hours?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Manatsu nodded, then her eyes focused on something behind Yuuki for a split second. Before he could turn around to see what it was, she grabbed his shoulders and gave him a quick kiss. "Well… until then! See ya!"

She ran off. Baffled, he almost wiped his mouth, but stopped himself. He was supposed to be dating her now. Turning around, he wanted to see what Manatsu was looking at that prompted the kiss. Surprisingly it was his little sister. Her cheeks were pink on seeing the sight. He stopped and allowed Tomoko to catch up, his brain furiously shouting obscenities about Manatsu.

"Is that the girl you're going out with today?" Tomoko asked.

Yuuki didn't see the need to lie to his sister about that, though he kept the Blackmailing game going on between the two to himself. "Yeah."

"She's a bit… well…"

"Yeah. She a delinquent." Yuuki reminded her. "She used to date that guy who pushed me around."

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Not in the least." Yuuki laughed. "Probably the stupidest thing ever."

Yuuki returned home and changed out of his uniform into something casual. But Tomoko decided he wasn't dressed up nice enough, even though he told her it was a casual date. After she played dress-up for a while, Yuuki had to leave before he was late. As he left his house, he realized that maybe he should have tried to be late, just to rub Manatsu the wrong way. Suddenly felt bad for rushing Tomoko along.

He placed his hands in his pocket and walked slowly towards the bus stop. In the back of his mind he knew Manatsu was going to try to bleed him dry, in terms of money, so he took special precautions. He and his sister both had a separate allowance given. Since Yuuki didn't have a social life, his funds had built up and knew he was safe in that regard. He just hated wasting it on someone like Manatsu.

"Woah, you're showing up on time?"

Glancing to his side he saw Manatsu join him at the bus stop. He had to double take, as this was one of the rare times he saw her out of uniform. She was dressed pretty stylish, though not girly in the least. She had faded crimson colored denim pants, with a long-sleeved striped shirt that was black and white, and a light blue denim vest with a hat that mirrored the pants she was wearing. He had to admit that she looked cute.

"What?" Manatsu asked, bring his thoughts.

"Sorry, just admiring your outfit." Yuuki told her truthfully.

"You were?" Manatsu looked down, then suddenly looked shy, and not a put-on fake shy that he knew she could do. "Uh…thanks."

When the bus dropped them off in town square, Manatsu led him towards the ramen shop, even though he already knew where it was at. Because of the recent storm the town seemed to be mostly deserted, which also meant the ramen shop only had one other couple inside. Somehow it made it embarrassing.

"What did you sister think of me?" Manatsu asked, after they had ordered. "I saw her come along, and I recognized her from the pictures in your house. So I couldn't resist."

"She already knows about you." Yuuki was happy kill any illusions Manatsu had of shocking Tomoko. "She just didn't know what you looked like."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She was just shocked on how you look. When I told her about you, I guess she thought you'd be ugly because you were dating an asshole ape. You're obviously not so…"

Manatsu laughed. "Even the devoted sister thinks her loser bother can't land a pretty girl."

"What's that say about you, going out with such a loser guy?" Yuuki quickly fired back.

"Whatever." Manatsu conceded that tiff. "How do you like this hat?"

"It's nice." Yuuki told her, not sure why she'd care.

"Nodoka recommended it. She said you always had a thing with short haired girls wearing hats."

_A low blow. _ "Yeah, she's right. You might want to watch yourself, I might not be able to stop myself and start a scene trying ravage you right here."

"Like you could." Manatsu smirked.

The ramen arrived shortly after this exchange and the two ate in relative silence. Aside from the slurping. Manatsu made no bones about making as much noise as possible as she sucked down the noodles. Yuuki wondered if she thought it'd embarrass him, but it didn't. So he did the opposite and was as quiet as possible, hoping that would get to her. Everything between them seemed to be a competition.

"Ah, I missed this place." Manatsu sat back once she had finished eating. "I used to come here with my sister."

"Why'd you stop?"

"She doesn't like to be seen with me anymore. Teenagers." Manatsu rolled her eyes.

"You're a teenager too, you know."

"Yeah yeah… but she's 14, which means she thinks she knows everything there is about the world. Along with that she hates her big sister for the time being. I know. I was like that with my older sister. I grew out of it though."

"My sister hasn't come to that stage yet." Yuuki pushed his ramen bowl away from him. He hoped Tomoko never would become like that.

"I'm sure it's different with everyone, but sooner or later your sister will get in that rebellious phase. Be careful."

"I love how a delinquent is telling me about rebellious phases."

"I'm not like that all the time. When I'm home, I'm nothing but a loving sister."

"Don't forget thunder storms."

Manatsu turned away, but it was clear she was genuinely blushing.

After a while she looked at her watch then sighed. Yuuki figured she was bored. Part of him didn't care, the other part wanted her to be pleased with the date. There was a duel thing at play. He wanted to succeed in the date just so that he had the satisfaction of doing well at it… but the other part didn't want to view Manatsu as a girl and wanted her to be miserable. He wasn't sure what part would win over. Again she checked her watched, and looked annoyed.

"What?" Yuuki couldn't take it anymore.

"Huh? What now?" Manatsu blinked.

"You're checking your watch."

"Oh…" Manatsu looked slightly shifty for just a split second, which told Yuuki whatever she was going to say now would be a lie. "I'm just bored is all. If your plan is for me to waste my time, mission accomplished."

Yuuki decided to bet on his intuition. "Well if you're bored we can go somewhere else or just go home."

"NO!" Manatsu said a bit too loudly.

Leaning back, Yuuki looked at her and laughed. "Okay, what did you plan that not's working out?"

Manatsu leaned against the table trying to look innocent. "Nothing."

"Okay." Yuuki smirked. "Let's go then."

"Alright." Manatsu agreed but was taking the slowest time possible getting ready and getting up.

In the meantime, Yuuki paid their bill and waited for her by the door. She slowly made her way towards him, but had no option now but to leave. As they walked toward the public square, Yuuki laughed a bit. Manatsu glanced at him, knowing full well what he was laughing about.

"Okay fine. You got me." Manatsu couldn't take it anymore. "Megumi-chan was supposed to show up and take pictures of us together."

"Why would you want pictures of that?" Yuuki raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to rub it in Odo-san's face."

Yuuki felt another kick in the stomach at that. Seems Megumi's warning was valid, but he was glad he got on her good side, albeit unknowingly. "Nodoka-chan's happy about us being a couple. So I don't care."

Manatsu scoffed. Yuuki found a bench and asked Manatsu to sit down. She did, and Yuuki sat next to her, pulling out his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"The next best thing." Yuuki placed his arm around Manatsu, then took a few pictures of them together. In all but one of the photos Manatsu looked less than pleased. He deleted those and kept the best out of the bunch then handed the phone to Manatsu. "You can send it if you want too."

"You don't think I will?"

"Nodoka-chan and I will never be couple. It's time for me to move on." Yuuki said, though inside he didn't believe a word he was saying. He really didn't want that picture going to her either. But right now, Yuuki wanted to beat Manatsu, and if Nodoka was going to get in the way of that, like she did before, he'd never win.

"Don't be stupid." Manatsu looked slightly angry and handed back the phone.

His heart pounding, Yuuki wrote out a text for the photo "Things seemed to be working out. Thank you for all the great advice." He set it up to send and showed Manatsu. She was looking down at it, then back at Yuuki, looking into his eyes, studying him.

"You won't do it."

Yuuki pressed send.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Manatsu looked at the conformation message appear that the message was sent.

"I guess I sent it…" Yuuki sighed heavily, then placed his phone in his pocket. Even though he was trying to be cocky, it still hurt him.

"Come here." Manatsu said to him, pulled him closer. She looked into his eyes, then pressed her lips gently into his and kissed him. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, and for a time the remained like that. When she pulled away, her trademark smirk returned. "You're fucking crazy, so I think you deserved that."


	11. Chapter 11: Bikini

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

11. Bikini.

Saturday morning Yuuki just wanted to sleep in. The past week was a tough one. Coming to grips with Nodoka accepting and supporting him dating other girls was the kicker. He knew from this point on, he could no longer hope for something more with her. To Nodoka, he would always just be a friend and nothing more, and now with Manatsu forcing herself on him like a "girlfriend" it was pretty much written in stone.

The previous night's date ended with a stroll. Nothing elaborate. Manatsu wanted to get home to do something, but wanted to stick around long enough to find out what Nodoka's response was to the photo Yuuki sent her of the two of them together. When Nodoka did finally send a response it was heartbreaking. She said they made a cute couple.

So with nothing to look forward to for the rest of his life, Yuuki just wanted to stay in bed. He could hear his sister moving around, but she hadn't attempted to wake him up. She must of read his mood when he came home from the date and decided to leave him alone. As he lay there brooding, his thoughts went to further taking up Manatsu's social life as payback. But his brain was still hung up on the Nodoka business that he couldn't think of anything.

He must of drifted off to sleep again, because something placed on the bed next to him woke him up. His eyes opened to the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was passed noon. The thing was behind him. Rolling around he saw a shock of blonde hair and a tan face looking sleepily at him. Startled he sat up. Manatsu was in his bed?

"What?"

"Lay back down." Manatsu yawned. Her eyes looked red and there were bags under them. It was obvious she had been up all night. Her right wrist was bandaged again. Yuuki rightly guessed that her carpal tunnel syndrome was acting up.

"What are you doing here?"

Manatsu nestled her head into his pillow. "Your sister called you at the front door, said I was visiting. But you didn't answer. She said you were probably still sleeping so I came up."

"And she let you?"

"Why not? I'm your girlfriend." Manatsu said. "Lay back down, I want a nap."

He didn't know why he did it, but he did lay back down, and pulled the blankets over Manatsu so the two of them were in bed together. He found he wasn't squirmy about these things anymore. Manatsu wasn't a real girlfriend, so he didn't care. The kiss she gave him the night before felt good, but other than that it did nothing for him.

"It's getting warmer, but it's still humid because of that storm." Manatsu mumbled, clearly not napping. "I was thinking of taking a break and heading for the beach tomorrow."

"Taking a break from what?"

Manatsu shrugged. "Everything."

Yuuki could relate. "It's not summer. The weather might be warmer but the water is going to be cold."

"We won't have to swim…"

"We?"

"I don't have any spending money. So it's a date." Manatsu told him simply.

"I never said I wanted to go to the beach." Yuuki complained.

"Come on." Manatsu's sleepy voice gave a fake begging sound to it. "I'll wear a bikini and act like a real girlfriend."

Somehow this sounded more like a trap than an appealing offer. "Why do you want to so bad? There's another reason isn't there?"

Manatsu sighed and looked him directly in the eyes. "There isn't an alterer motive here. I just want to go. I need to get away from that house…"

This again. He wondered what was going on at her home that made her want to constantly be away from it. "Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?"

"I would if I were your real girlfriend." Manatsu smirked slyly. "Which I would be tomorrow if we went to the beach."

Yuuki didn't want to go, but he was confident now that Manatsu was telling the truth this time. It fit with the situation he was currently in; her being in his bed. In a way, she was running away from home at that very moment. Part of him started to feel sorry for her, but as soon as those thought sparked in his head, he beat them back with a mental baseball bat. He couldn't allow himself to feel sorry for her, or to see her as a normal girl. She preyed on him when he let his guard down.

"Let's go to the beach." Manatsu repeated after a long silence.

"Fine. But if Tomo-chan wants to go, I'm taking her."

To Yuuki disappointment, when he told his sister later about the beach she was less thrilled about the idea than he was. She rightly pointed out that it wasn't the summer yet and the water would be cold, all of which he knew. Nevertheless he all but begged her to come along, knowing Manatsu wouldn't try anything as long as there was an innocent little sister tagging along. But Tomoko flat out refused.

"Besides, isn't this the perfect opportunity to be alone with your girlfriend?" Tomoko smiled mischievously.

So on Sunday morning Yuuki found himself at the bus station, awaiting with dread for Manatsu to show up. Like she had pointed out the day before, the weather had warmed up, but it was humid. He knew the situation would change at the beach, but for the moment the air felt thick with moisture. Yuuki was dressed in an Orix Buffaloes baseball hat, beach shorts and a loose t-shirt should he feel the insane urge to jump into freeing cold water. He was smart enough to bring a bag that had a change of warmer clothes, and lots of towels.

"No Tomo-chan?"

Manatsu had joined him. He could see her bikini top ties peaking from the top of her t-shirt. She was also wearing beach shorts, though hers were the girl's variety, and sunglasses. Like him, she was carrying a bag, no doubt filled with sunblock lotion, towels, and perhaps a change of clothes. But what he noticed was that her wrist was still wrapped up.

"Nope." Yuuki told her, not liking that she had taken to calling his sister the nickname he called her. To point it out would mean she'd only do it more. "She said it's insane to go the beach now."

"Hmm, did she?" Manatsu laughed slightly. "Well I think it's perfect. There won't be any tourists."

"I wonder why that is?" Yuuki asked sarcastically.

The bus ride to the beach was a little over an hour. Strangely it wasn't a quiet uncomfortable trip. Manatsu had meant what she said about taking a break and was rambling on about school or Tv shows she liked, and talked a bit about baseball. When they exited the bus and walked towards the beach, Yuuki had completely forgotten she was deep down his mortal enemy.

"See I told you this was a great idea." Manatsu gestured at the almost empty beach. "It's like we have it all to ourselves."

"That's great. If there's one thing we don't get enough of is more alone time." Yuuki teased her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Since they were pretty much the only people there, they had the pick of the beach, and chose a good spot. Yuuki wished it was possible to bring an umbrella with him, but that would have meant carting that thing on a bus and walking with it everywhere he went. That was too much work. As he laid out their blankets Manatsu, started to pull off her shorts, and then her top.

Yuuki coughed when he looked at her bikini. The bikini itself was white with black polka-dots, but that wasn't the issue. No doubt about it, it was a size to small, if not two sizes. Her top was barely holding her in and her bottoms were too tiny. He didn't know where to look.

"What the hell is with that swimsuit, Natsu-chan?" Yuuki stammered.

Manatsu looked down, oddly looking embarrassed. "Well, seems I grew since the last time I wore a swimsuit. I told you I didn't have any spending money so I picked something I already had. This one covers the most."

"Uh… yeah." Yuuki was finding it hard to pay attention to what she was saying as her squished boobs were giving him a show.

"Anyway, I promised I'd wear a bikini didn't I, so here it is." Manatsu shrugged then sat down in front of him, her back facing him. "Suntan lotion please."

"Oh you're doing this on purpose now." Yuuki grumbled even though deep down he had to admit the view was great.

After rubbing her back with lotion, to which she made moaning sounds just to annoy him, she finished the rest on her own, while he did the same for himself. When he got to his back, she even put it on for him without him asking.

"Maybe the water isn't so bad." Yuuki thought, thinking he might need some cold water if this continued.

"That's the spirit! Let's try it out."

The water was cold, but it wasn't as cold as Yuuki thought it would be. Cold enough to get his teenaged mind out of the gutter, at least. What was until Manatsu squealed like a actual girl, then started splashing water at him in play. They play wrestled for a while, using sea water as ammunition for ranged attacks, but over all they kept tackling each other, trying to knock the other completely into the water. For some reason this was the most fun Yuuki had in a long time, and he didn't care if it was with Manatsu. It just felt good to have fun and to laugh for a change.

All of a sudden, the play stopped and Manatsu ducked under the water so only her head and shoulders were showing. Yuuki wondered what was up and when he got closer she squeaked. She was being too girly, and that sight alone was baffling.

"What?"

"I lost my top." Manatsu said.

Yuuki could see now that she had said it, that she was holding herself. He wondered why he didn't see it before. Looking around he scanned the shoreline for the top, but had no luck. "I can't find it."

"Keep looking." Manatsu told him, standing up and looking around herself. Somehow her holding herself (which covered more than the top, by the way) seemed far to sexy.

Yuuki looked around some more, if nothing else but to keep his eyes from Manatsu's bare back. His mind was going slightly numb with the image glued to his mind. Then, as if by a miracle, he spotted this top washed up on shore. He ran over to it, washed it in the water as it was covered in sand, then came back to Manatsu.

"Found it."

"Oh, thank goodness."

Yuuki was about to hand it over when he saw her look at him with a disappointed face. "What?"

"You're just going to give it back?"

"Yeah."

"You're not even going to tease me, or demand I do something for you in order to get it back?" Manatsu asked.

"Why would I do that?"

"Well… you're a blackmailer in the end, so I thought-"

"I'm not today, remember." Yuuki narrowed his eyes at her. "What, do you want me to do say 'I'll give it back if you show my your boobs' or something?"

"Isn't that what normal boys do?"

"How should I know?" Yuuki told her, holding out the top.

Manatsu sighed and took the top, skillfully not exposing herself, then turned her back on him so she could put it back on. "You're no fun."

"Huh?"

"I thought it'd be funny to see you all embarrassed." Manatsu said as she tied up the bikini top. "How come you decided to be a gentleman now of all times?"

"So…. you want me to see you topless?"

"Not really." Manatsu turned to face him, covered as best that top could cover. "More just wanted to mess with you a bit."

"Don't tell me you took off that top on your own." Yuuki wondered.

"I didn't." Manatsu smirked. "But when it happened I took the chance."

"You're a weird girl."

"And I don't even know if you're even a boy. Didn't even think about trying to get a peek."

"If I wanted to look at you topless I'd just do this." Yuuki grabbed her top and pushed it up near her shoulder blades. He didn't know why he did it. He didn't plan it. It just happened. Never before would he have thought of doing something like that. Yet he just did it without a thought and now was looking at her bare chest.

Manatsu didn't cover up, she laughed and pushed him away, then pulled back down her swimsuit. "See, now you're acting like a boy."

Yuuki was glad the water was cold. She had a great body. "Well, I figured you wanted me to look at you topless so bad, I shouldn't disappoint you."

"Right." Manatsu raised her eyebrow. "I hope you enjoyed the show."

"It had it's good points." Yuuki smiled. "It could have been longer…"

Manatsu pulled him closer to her, evil gleaming in her eye. Then she lifted her top again. "Tell me when you're done gawking."

Yuuki could feel his lower body wanting to respond to this. In order to stop his primitive urges, he tackled her into the water, then splashed her in the face nonstop. She adjusted her swimsuit and played back. His lower body still was threatening arousal, but he fought it. He didn't want to think of Manatsu like that. She was the enemy.


	12. Chapter 12: Love

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

12. Love.

"You look terrible." Nodoka told Yuuki Monday morning before homeroom.

She wasn't lying. After the beach trip, Yuuki had gotten home late. The rest of the night all he could think of was Manatsu's body. That damn bikini which left little to the imagination, and the multiple times she flashed him her boobs. His teenage brain couldn't handle it. He spent most of the night trying not to think of her; but the more he did, the more the images of Manatsu kept popping up in his mind. And that wasn't the only thing popping. He was tried and frustrated.

"We were just playing hard yesterday, is all." Manatsu must of heard what Nodoka said as she joined them. "We went to the beach."

"Oh… but it's not summer yet?" Nodoka pointed out.

"That seems to be the popular consensus." Manatsu winked at Yuuki. "But it's nice we went before summer, huh? We had the beach to ourselves."

"You two really seem to be getting along." Nodoka smiled. Yuuki wondered why it didn't sting as much as before when he heard her say that. He must still be tired.

"I guess so." Manatsu rubbed her wrist. It was still bandaged up. "I just wish I could get him to loosen up. Just when Yuu-kun starts to open up, the dates are over and I have to start all over again."

"You just started going out." Nodoka was looking at Yuuki. "It'll take some time. He's pretty shy."

"Thanks Nodoka-chan. I really appreciate you selling me out like that." Yuuki joked her a bit.

"No problem." Nodoka blew him a kiss. "I'm here for you anytime."

Manatsu smirked then turned to Yuuki. "Hey Yuu-kun, take a hike. I want to talk girl-talk with Nodoka-chan."

"What, no way." Yuuki shook his head. "I'm not leaving so you can talk junk about me."

"C'mon, Yuu-kun." Manatsu gave a fake pleading voice. "I just need to talk to a girl for a moment."

"It's okay Yuuki-chan." Nodoka nodded.

Dreading this development, he departed. He didn't want to watch them gossip about him, so he left the classroom and found a window to look out of. He knew Manatsu was putting up an act, but he couldn't deny he had fun the day before. Fight it though he might, he was starting to think of her less and less like and enemy. He knew this was dangerous. Any moment she'd spring something on him and he'd live to regret this foolish notion that Manatsu was just a girl deep down inside.

When homeroom started, he noticed that both Nodoka and Manatsu had the giggles. It pained him not know what they were talking about. He knew he wouldn't be able to wrestle it out of Nodoka during lunch because Manatsu was bound to join them. Sure enough when lunch happened, Manatsu was there. And when P.E. happened, Manatsu was there with them again. She was with them the whole day, laughing and acting charming. He wanted to enjoy it, see her friendliness as a break, but he was sure she was up to something.

As Yuuki was at his shoe locker preparing to go home, he spotted Nodoka at hers. She apparently saw him first and notion for him to join her. When he walked up to her, she took him out of sight from the exit, knowing that Manatsu usually walked home with him.

"I can tell you're freaking about what Manatsu-chan and I were talking about earlier." Nodoka told him in a whisper, was if her voice would carry over to wherever the delinquent was hiding. "It wasn't anything bad."

"Sure." Yuuki didn't feel convinced.

"I don't want to tell you, because she told me in confidence." Nodoka blushed. "But I can tell this is really bugging you and it might… effect things."

"I don't want to get you in trouble." Yuuki decided. "I'll just.. put up with it."

"Yeah right." Nodoka rolled her eyes. "I'm your best friend first so… you didn't hear this from me." She breathed in and whispered in his ear. "She told me she's falling in love with you. She wanted me to help her get to know you better… that's all we were talking about."

"She's in love with me?"

Nodoka nodded. "She wasn't lying to me, I could tell. She looked really embarrassed. She told me she sometimes gets jealous at how easy we talk to each other. That little quip she did this morning about how she can't loosen you up was a joke. She really concerned about that. She wants you to like her as much as she likes you… but she doesn't want to chase you away by coming on too strong."

Yuuki blinked taking it all in. For a second he almost believed it. But then again, this was Manatsu. She definitely was furthering her plan of separating the possibility of him getting together with Nodoka. Problem was, she didn't know she already succeeded splendidly in this category. Still, her wasting her efforts on something she already accomplished meant she wasn't scamming him on something else, so Yuuki thought it'd be best to let her continue.

"Well?" Nodoka asked him, breaking him from his strategy session. "What do you think of her?"

"To be honest I'm still cautious with her." Yuuki told her. He might as well fed Nodoka information to keep Manatsu occupied. "I mean, we just started dating, and it wasn't long ago I was wearing her school uniform."

"I know." Nodoka nodded. "I'm with you there. But seeing how she's acting lately…"

"It's not been that long." Yuuki interrupted her.

"Well…" Nodoka was struggling to keep in something she was holding back.

"Okay, out with it. You know you can't keep anything from me." Yuuki urged her.

"She had a lot of pictures of you on her phone." Yuuki remembered the photos. He had assumed they'd come to play at some point. "Some of them are candid shots from school…and some are of your dates. She was showing me your beach trip and was… well she enamored. I'm not just saying that. As a girl you can sense these things. She was going off about how your smile is a bit crooked, or how your eyes look in certain light. You know, little things that girls notice. I believe her when she says she's falling in love with you."

Poor Nodoka. She was being skillfully played. "Thanks for telling me."

"I had too. She's trying to get you to loosen up, but you're so suspicious of everything she does. I didn't want to ruin a potentially good relationship. Not after you finally got a girlfriend."

Friday it would have felt like Nodoka shoved a spear in his gut when she said that. Since the weekend, he started the process of getting over her, so it just felt like a dagger. "You're my best friend, Nodoka-chan. I don't know what I'd do without you." That was all he could think of saying, without running to the nearest window and jumping out.

She blushed. "Don't say things like that. It's embarrassing."

Yuuki finished his business at the shoe locker then met Manatsu at the school entrance, as was their routine. She was leaning against the wall waiting for him, texting on her phone. When she saw him, she finished her conversation and pocketed her phone. Not speaking they both started towards the directions of their homes, as if they were going through the motions.

"I might not be in school tomorrow." Manatsu told him, her voice sounded serious.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. There is a gang… The Crazy Banshees …. they've been pestering some people in my group." Manatsu explained to him him. She was dead serious. "Tonight I'm gathering up everyone and there's going to be trouble."

"I see."

"I might be get hurt." Manatsu continued, as if Yuuki didn't say anything. "If…If I'm really bad off, I want to know if it's okay if I come to your place?"

"Why?"

"I don't want my sisters to see me like that." Manatsu spoke without pausing. "They don't know…."

"Alright." Yuuki agreed without second thought. Unknowingly Manatsu just gave him more information about herself that he could use later. But messing with her family seemed to go over the line. He didn't want her to pick on Tomoko in retaliation. "Just tell the folks you're at a friends house and come over to my place, even if you're not that bad. I'm sure some questions might arise if you show up looking scuffled."

"Thanks." Manatsu said, sighing slightly. "That's a relief."

Yuuki wondered how she can be less concerned about her wellbeing and more concerned about if her sisters knew about her fighting. He knew he shouldn't pry into that aspect, as she was always reluctant to talk about her home life, so he asked something else instead. "How come you want to come to my place instead of one of your friends, anyway?"

"I'm one of the leaders. I can't look weak in front of them." Manatsu told him. "You saw what happened to Keiji."

"They don't sound like great friends."

"They're not. When you're the head of a gang you don't have friends." Manatsu glared at him.

"What about Megumi-san?" Yuuki asked, knowing that the girl actually wanted to be Manatsu's friend over being a follower.

Manatsu shrugged. "She's a bit crazy and that's kind of annoying."

Part of Yuuki felt sorry for Megumi, but that wasn't his problem. Suddenly he remembered something. "Damn… I just remembered. Tomo-chan might see you hurt."

"She knows I'm in a gang, right?" Manatsu looked at him. "I mean, she was giving me the cold eye when I met her on Saturday."

"Uh, yeah, I guess she does. " Yuuki remembered. He didn't know his sister was that protective. "But she figures I'm safer dating you than I when was as your target."

"Then it'll be okay." Manatsu assured him. "She already thinks I'm a troublemaker, so me showing up late at night all beat up won't change her mind of that."

"You won't get hurt that bad will you?"

"Is that concern in your voice?"

"I was thinking of my bed. I don't want to clean up blood stains." Yuuki quickly said.

"Oh-ho, automatic assuming I'll be sleeping with you. You're pretty bold."

"Why wouldn't I think that, everytime you come over my house you hop in my bed?"

"I guess that's true." Manatsu smirked. "You don't have to worry about your bed, I won't bleed on it."

"Yeah right."

"I'm going to get hit, most likely. But I won't get too messed up." Manatsu said confidently. "I'm pretty badass."

Whether she was confident or not, Yuuki didn't care. What he did know was that she was going over to his house, again, and would be poking around his room. He made it Manatsu-safe as soon as he got home. Tomoko didn't seem to care what he was doing until he asked her where the first aid kit was. That's when she started with the questions. When he explained the situation to her, she got a dark shadow over her face.

"I don't want to be here when she shows up." Tomoko said. "What are you thinking, allowing someone dangerous like that stay over?"

"Obviously she won't be dangerous if she's hurt." Yuuki explained. "Besides, I'm starting to feel sorry for her."

"I get that you have to act the nice boyfriend but…" Tomoko sighed. "I don't want to look at her if she's bleeding."

"It's okay I understand. I'll call her and tell her to make other plans."

Tomoko groaned. "Wait. She could hold that against you…. I'll just go over to Aoi-chan's house."

"I don't want to kick you out…"

"You're not…. I just… I don't want to be around blood." Tomoko repeated. "Besides, you get to be alone with her again."

"Yeah, some fun that will be." Yuuki rolled his eyes at her.

With Tomoko's help, he made the house ready for Manatsu. This time around it was easier finding a change of clothes. Girls knew about that sort of thing better than boys. Manatsu would have to survive without a change of underwear though. Then they readied a first aid kit. They didn't have much, but they added some make-shift supplies should the injuries be worse than Manatsu made it out to be. Tomoko even made a quick dinner to heat up should Manatsu be hungry.

And with that Tomoko took off. He felt bad doing this to her, but he wasn't sure what else he could do. She could have holed herself in her room, but that wasn't fair either. Somehow he's have to try harder to keep Manatsu away from his house. A tough job as she generally did what she wanted anyway. But Yuuki had more resolve now that his sister seemed to be inconvenienced.

As he sat in the living room, wondering how late Manatsu would be, his phone rang. Surprised he picked it up and saw the her phone number. Wondering what this could be, he answered it.

"Yuu-kun?" Her voice sounded ragged and out of breath.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm sorry… but could you pick me up?"

This sounded bad. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing too bad. It just hurts to walk." She paused still breathing heavy. "I made it as far as I can alone, but I'm too exhausted now."

"Where are you?"

"I'm near the bus stop by our neighborhood." Manatsu said weakly. There was pride in her voice, as if that was an accomplishment. That was a bad sign. "Please come and get me… I'm counting on you."

When he hung up with Manatsu, Yuuki already had a coat in his hand was out the door without thinking about it.


	13. Chapter 13: Bath

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

13. Bath.

It was already night out when Yuuki set out to look for Manatsu. The bus stop wasn't too far away from their neighborhood, so for Manatsu to call him when she was within walking distance must mean she was hurt bad. As he walked, it dawned on him that he was concerned. It pinged his heart to realize that, he was doing a terrible job at keeping his distance from the girl emotionally. The idiot was creeping into his life more and more.

Searching for Manatsu was the easy part. He found her about halfway to the bus stop leaning against a wall while sitting on the ground underneath a lamp post. As he got closer, Yuuki saw her face and some of her clothes were covered in blood. Her hair was a matted mess from sweat and blood, that she looked frightening. She was breathing heavy, her chest moving up and down dramatically with steam escaping her mouth. When Manastu saw him, she tried to put on airs that she wasn't as bad off as she looked, but the damage was done.

"Oh my God." Yuuki found himself staring at her in shock.

"It looks worse than it is." Manatsu said, her voice not as confident as she thought it sounded. "Some of this isn't even my blood so…" But she trailed off.

Yuuki knew she didn't know how bad off she looked. If she did, she wouldn't be trying to lie. "How's everyone else?"

"Cowards." Manatsu grunted as she tried to stand up on her on. Yuuki quickly was by her side. "All but Megumi-san stuck by me. We were out numbered and got a beating. But somehow we still won. They might of kept trying if Megumi-san didn't pull out a knife. Fucking crazy bitch."

"Can you walk?" Yuuki had Manatsu's arm over his shoulder as her propped her up by her waist. Even her legs had blood on them.

"Yeah."

They weren't really walking though. It was more like a limping hobble. He could only carry so much of her weight, she had to basically use him as a human crutch. The short time it took Yuuki to find Manatsu took well over 30 minutes to get back to his house. They had to stop every now and then so Manatsu could catch her breath. Seeing her look all bloodied up like Ric Flair after a Steel Cage match was almost stomach turning. When they finally did reach his house, she sat down on the entrance way floor breathing heavily, drowsy eyed.

"Maybe we should call for an ambulance." Yuuki looked at her limp body sitting next to the shoes.

Manatsu shook her head. "Nothing's broken, there's just a lot of cuts and bruises."

Yuuki couldn't figure out how punches and kicks could cause that much damage. But he didn't have the heart to ask her to relive that experience now. If she said she was fine, then he'd just have to believe her. "Once you've caught your breath, how about a bath?"

Manatsu nodded, too tired to say anything.

Taking the cue, Yuuki left her by the entrance and readied the bath with warm water, then collected the night clothes Tomoko had picked out for Manatsu to wear. As he made sure there was enough towels, he decided that enough time had passed for Manatsu to be moved again. In the back of his mind he wondered how she was going to be able to wash herself if she could barely stand, but that was a problem when they came to it.

"Okay, everything is ready if you are." Yuuki announced when he returned.

Manatsu nodded and got to her feet on her on steam. She held out her hand so Yuuki could keep her stable, but she seemed to want to move on her own. "Ughh… It was a mistake sitting so long. My muscles hurt all over."

"It's okay, you don't have to push yourself."

"I know." But she did anyway.

Yuuki led her into the bathroom and placed her on a stool in front of the shower hose. Typically it would be customary to take off one's clothes before going to the stool, but he was sure Manatsu didn't want him around when she was undressing. Once it looked like everything was within reach and she was in a good position he started to take his leave.

"Call me if you need anything. I keep around the bathroom, just in case."

He said it as a courtesy, he didn't expect to be called to help her do anything. She nodded just the same. He left her, then took a seat on the opposite wall of the bathroom preparing to be sitting there for a long time. The way she was moving, he probably could take a good long nap and still wake up when she needed help walking out.

After a few minutes Yuuki heard loud grunts and moans come from the bathroom. It was clear that Manatsu was taking off her clothes and it was hurting her just doing that. He winced every time a moan happened. She sounded like an innocent girl when she did that, not like the strong delinquent she normally was. Her moans ended in whimpers.

"Truce!" Manatsu's voice came loud and clear from the bathroom.

Yuuki knew what that meant. His fears were justified, he knew she couldn't do this on her own. Swallowing any inhibition he had, he knocked before he entered the bathroom. He didn't have to. Her shirt was half off and that was it. All that noise to get one arm out of it's shelve. She looked humiliated.

"Long sleeves… whoever invented those should be shot." She tried to save face.

Yuuki walked up behind her. "Are you sure you're okay with me helping you out?"

"I don't have a choice." Manatsu said a bit to girly for Yuuki's liking, but quickly reverted back to her normal self. "Don't pop a boner on me or I'll punch you in the face."

"Shut up and lift your arms as best you can." Yuuki slapped the back of her head lightly.

Wincing, he thought maybe that wasn't the best thing in the world to do to someone was covered in blood. But on hearing her chuckle, he knew he didn't hurt her too much. Manatsu did as she was told and raised her arms as best she could. From behind her, Yuuki pulled off the blood stain shirt and tossed it near the door.

"I have no idea how to get out blood stains."

"I do… but you won't get it out of that shirt. It's a goner." Manatsu lowered her arms, but kept them raised slightly. "Bra too."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Yuuki felt his face burning.

It wasn't that he found her blood covered body attractive, it was that he had to undress her. He unhooked her bra, wondering if it was part of the underwear she wore for _Momorio Burusera_ or some of her own. When she pulled it off and tossed it in the same direction as the bloody shirt she winced, then covered herself.

"Now the hard part." Manatsu sighed. "Pants and panties. You up for it, champ?"

Yuuki wasn't sure he was, but he had no choice. He moved to her front and helped her to her feet, then got on his knees so he was level with her waist. He felt her hands holding his shoulder, and tried not to imagine her topless self doing it. Her was breathing heavy again, and Yuuki could tell her legs were shaking.

"I'll try and take them off at once so you don't have to stand so long."

"'Kay." Manatsu spoke in mid-swallow. "Let's get this over with."

As he unbuttoned her pants, he could hear Manatsu questioning her reasoning when she picked out skinny jeans. Yuuki had originally planned to pull both her panties and pants off in a quick swoop, and try and not to look. But since they were skinny jeans, and wet ones at that, he had no choice but to battle with them. He saw everything. It took forever to wrestle the jeans off of her, but when he did, he threw them with an irritated satisfaction across the room.

Manatsu was back on her bath stool, worn out, not bothering covering herself. Yuuki had already seen everything and she was just too tired to care anymore. For the first time since he started this business he noticed there were visible red stripes on her skin, like someone had taken a whip to her.

"What the hell happened?"

Manatsu looked down at what he was looking at. "Oh. That gang… they took off their belts and were swatting at us pretty hard for a while. That's where the cuts came from."

That explained why she was bleeding so much in areas that weren't her nose and lip. "Okay… I guess I'll let you wash then."

"Yuu-kun... I can't do this on my own."

It was hopeful thinking that she could carry on by herself, but deep down he knew he had to go all the way with full service. He groaned and started for the shower hose when Manatsu kicked him lightly. He turned around, given her an irritated look.

"What?"

"You're not going to do this with your clothes on. Fuck that shit. You saw me naked, fair is fair. Now strip."

"You're the one who didn't want me to 'pop a boner', do you really want me to strip?" Yuuki told her, feeling embarrassed at having to point out the obvious. He had good intentions and didn't want to sexualize her, but a teenage body is a different beast.

"Oh I don't care. Become harder than steel for all I care." Manatsu sounded tired. "I just want to sleep."

"Damn it." Yuuki tossed off his shirt then took the rest of his clothes off in an angry huff. He could feel Manatsu staring at him and deep down he knew it was payback.

"Woo woo! Shake it baby!" Manatsu mustered a joke, but it came off as tired teasing.

Yuuki slapped the back of her head again and turned on the water. He wait for the water to heat up before he let it touch her. "Let's skip soap for right now. I don't know how sensitive your cuts are."

"Alright." Manatsu was holding her breath. "I'm ready."

Yuuki focused on the task at hand and narrowed his vision on bloody areas, anything to keep his mind from wandering. He really didn't want his body to react to Manatsu's, even if she had given him permission. The water coming off of Manatsu was pink, as her blood was flowing off of her with the water and going down the drain. Yuuki's probable erection seemed the furthest from Manatsu's mind. She was bracing the bath stool wincing at the water and his hand washing her over. He noticed for the first time she had taped her fingers to protect them from punches. He took them off.

He rinsed her over and over, and the water get less pink with each run through. It was nice to see Manatsu's hair blonde again instead of the blood red it looked before. She was starting to look like herself again, and not some mangled mess. Yuuki realized that a lot of her injuries did look worse than they actually where, though he wouldn't diminish the pain she actually was having. Manatsu seemed to used to the pressure by now and wasn't wincing as much.

Yuuki wasn't sure if she could handle soap yet but decided to ask. Manatsu agreed for a test run. As predicted, it stung, but Manatsu urged him to finish. Keeping his mind focused was harder at this point, her slippery body under his hands was a bit harder to ignore. He was thankful when he started shampooing her hair.

Having finished her cleaning, Yuuki asked her if she wanted to relax in the tub a bit, or if she wanted to just skip that and lay down. She looked beat, and not just from the fight she just had. The act of washing had worn her out. But she wanted to go in the tub. So, being extra cautious, he walked her to the tub and helped her in.

"Aren't you coming too?" Manatsu asked him.

"No way."

"C'mon." Manatsu tired to give a half hearted smirk.

"It's not very wise." Yuuki told her flatly. He was at his limit of control by now.

Manatsu took a deep breath, as if summoning up courage. "Please don't leave me. I don't care if you get… well… I just don't want to be alone."

"But…"

"Truce." Manatsu reminded him, as if that made her point.

He couldn't fight her anymore, she looked like she didn't want another battle. He got in the tub with her, but sat behind her so her back faced him. Then he pulled her close to his chest and held her somewhat floaty body still by wrapping his arms around her waist under water. Skin against skin. It was all he could to keep his mind focused on other things. Manatsu on the other hand wasn't concerned about that sort of thing. She leaned her head back next to his and sighed a relaxing sigh.

"I wish we could sleep in here." She mumbled. "Just like this. This is the best I've felt all night."

"Yeah, I'd imagine so." Yuuki joked her sarcastically. "I can't imagine those belt whips felt very good."

"The worst one hit my head." Manatsu said in a calm soothing voice. "I literally saw stars. I knocked that bitch out after that."

It was odd hearing her talk about a fight in that tone of voice. "Do you hurt at all now?"

"No." Manatsu closed her eyes. "That's why I don't want to get dressed and move to your bed."

"I thought maybe you can sleep downstairs today. Might be hard on you to go up stairs."

"I want to sleep in a bed." Manatsu said in a firm voice. "I didn't get beat up so I can sleep on the couch."

"Fine have it your way."

She started moving around, her back rubbing against his chest as if she was rubbing herself. He ignored it for a moment, then realized her butt was unintentionally rubbing against something else. "Stop moving around."

"Oh…" Manatsu seemed to realize what she was going. "You know, you have great control…for being a virgin and all."

"No I don't, it's been hell. Stop teasing me." Yuuki admitted freely with no shame.

"If I had more energy I'd make you suffer." Manatsu smiled. "But right now I can't. So you're off the hook."

"Oh lucky me." Yuuki smiled back at her, and held her closer.


	14. Chapter 14: Invitation

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

14. Invitation.

The alarm clock buzzed at it woke Yuuki up out of dead sleep. His face was buried in his pillows and he felt way to warm to move. But the alarm kept blaring and it couldn't be ignored anymore. He went to raise his head, but something on top of it was hold him down. He tried again, and was again denied. Then as if by magic the thing holding him down moved and Yuuki pulled himself up and realized where he had been sleeping. His face wasn't buried in pillows, but Manatsu's chest.

"Turn it off…" She looked at him grumpily.

Yuuki yawned, and switched off the alarm clock. He looked at Manatsu who just flopped back into bed. Her face was a bit swollen, but other than that, all outward appearances were fine. He knew the she probably would be in pain for most of the day though.

"I'm getting ready for school. You're welcome to stay here if you want."

"Wait a moment," Manatsu got up, groaning as she did. "Let me walk around a bit."

Yuuki knew what she was doing. She wanted to make sure she could move around without him. The night before it was hell trying to put pajamas on her body, and even worse trying to get her up the stairs. As soon as they hit his bed, she was nearly passed out. The only thing she said before that was something odd and still haunted his memory.

"Do you still love Odo-san?" She had asked.

He remembered it vividly. After everything they had just did in the bathroom, her fight prior, or anything involving her injuries, that's what she wanted to talk about before she went to sleep. It had returned Yuuki to the relation that even at that point, her lowest so far, she still was fishing and plotting. He remembered that she was doing the same at school before, trying to drive a stake in a potential relationship with Nodoka. She didn't realize then that she already had, and apparently still didn't realize it. As before Yuuki thought it was safer to let Manatsu waste her efforts on that than on something new to torture him with. So like before he had given her a vague answer.

"Ugh, it hurts, but I'll be okay." Manatsu said, bringing Yuuki's mind back to the present.

"Don't feel bad about putting me out. Stay as long as you need too." Yuuki reminded her.

"I know…"

"I'll text my sister and tell her you're here."

"Okay…" Manatsu returned to his bed and flopped back down again.

She rolled over so her back faced him. Yuuki walked back to her, and replaced the blankets over her, then gave her head an affectionate pat. Even if she liked being a horrible person, he liked her best when she was unguarded like this. She moaned and leaned her head into his hand, accepting his pet. Something about her doing it shook his mind back into reality. He was weakening towards her.

When Yuuki arrived at school, there was a noticeable talk during homeroom about the absence of Manatsu's various gang members. The boys were all present, which led Yuuki to believe it was only the girls that went and battled. In their own homeroom Megumi was missing as well as her leader. The other classes were missing a few of them here and there. There was a rumor going around about where they could be off too. Yuuki and the few remaining gang girls were the only ones in the know about what really was going on.

"You must be sad that Manatsu-chan isn't here." Nodoka commented to him during lunch. "Are you worried about her?"

"Yes and no." Yuuki answered honestly. "Truth is I was with her last night, so I know how she is and where she is right now."

"Oh?" Nodoka couldn't hide her curiosity. "Well?"

"I'm not sure if it's my place to say." Yuuki admitted to her truthfully. "She okay though, more or less."

"You're no fun." Nodoka pouted. "I was hoping to get the inside scoop."

Yuuki gave a shrug indicating that his hands were tied. "It's what you get for setting me up with a delinquent."

Nodoka laughed. "Oh well. Forget about that then. What are you doing this weekend? I was wondering if you're free."

Yuuki heart lurched slightly. She surely wasn't asking him out? "Huh?"

"You know. It's the beginning of Spring and it's that time again." Nodoka prompted him. "My aunt asked me to come up to the mountains and help her set up the shop. I was wondering if you wanted to help me like we normally do."

"Oh!" Yuuki remembered. "Sorry, I guess my mind was on Natsu-chan. You asking the way you did all of a sudden made me confused."

"I see." Nodoka giggled then looked like she remembered something "Oh no. I forgot about Manatsu-chan. She probably doesn't want you going off for a few day to be with me in the mountains."

"Why not?"

"I'm a girl."

"Yes, but we're best friends, she knows that.."

Nodoka gave him a look. "You're new to this dating thing, so I'll let that slide. Typically girls don't like their boyfriends to be hanging out with other girls. Even if it's me, being alone for that long might cause some trouble."

Yuuki groaned seeing the logic in this. "I could invite her to come along."

"Uh…" Nodoka looked shifty. "I don't think Aunty would appreciate someone who looks like her coming around. She's pretty traditional remember? Manatsu-chan isn't the type to be… well a girl."

It was true. Whenever they showed up they had to be super polite and Nodoka even had to dress conservatively. But Yuuki had seen that Manatsu could act like a girl when she wanted too. "It can't hurt to ask. I'll tell her what kind of person Aunty is."

Nodoka still looked unsure. "This is… well it's our thing. Don't you think Manatsu-chan would feel like a third wheel?"

"Who cares." Yuuki blurted out before thinking.

Punching him on the arm Nodoka laughed. "Stop joking around."

"Okay okay… I'll bring it up, but not act like it's a big deal. If she doesn't like the idea I'll drop it."

"I guess that's the best thing we can do. It will really suck if you can't go. I always look forward to our mini-vacation up at the mountain retreat."

"Yeah, me too."

Nodoka punched his arm again. "That's for not thinking about your girlfriend."

When Yuuki returned home that day, he saw that both Tomoko and Manatsu's shoes were still at the entrance way. So she was still around. Yuuki sort of wished she had went home so he could bring up Nodoka's idea over text. It's sounded less personable and less important that way. But having to talk to her about it in person would only stir trouble. But all thoughts of Nodoka's trip left his mind when he heard squealing from the kitchen. Dropping his school bag, he kicked off his shoes and rushed to investigate.

Entering the kitchen, he saw both Tomoko and Manatsu wearing aprons, with a red faced Tomoko giggling like mad while Manatsu was tickling her all over. It would a cute scene, but Yuuki felt a slight twinge of uneasy as Manatu was seemingly getting along with his sister. On seeing him enter the kitchen, they stopped fooling around and greeted him.

"Aw, you're home early." Tomoko complained. "I wanted dinner to be a surprise."

"Huh?" Yuuki looked at the clock on his phone. He was home at a normal time. "I'm not early."

"You're not?" Tomoko gasped and ran over to the oven. "I forgot to set the timer. Oh I hope it's not ruined."

Manatsu joined her, as the younger girl opened the door. Smoke billowed out from within and caused both of them to jump back coughing. Taking oven mitts, she pulled out a casserole dish and shut the oven door. Both continued couching as Tomoko ran over to the nearby window and started waving the smoke out. Yuuki did his part and opened more windows.

"Aw. This sucks." Tomoko looked at the burnt remains of whatever it was they were cooking.

"Sorry about that." Manatsu rubbed the back of her head, looking at Yuuki with a guilty expression. "We were goofing off and completely forgot about the oven."

"I-It's okay." Yuuki waved away smoke in his face. It was odd to see Manatsu acting like a normal person. She still was hurting, he could tell, but she had a look of pure joy in her face.

"I guess we can order a Pizza." Tomoko sighed.

"Oh no, don't do that." Manatsu looked upset. "It's too expensive and it's my fault really."

"Don't worry about it." Tomoko smiled. "We get a decent sized allowance. Besides it'll cost about as much as going out somewhere, with all the bus fares, restaurant and all that. It's fine, really."

"Okay." Manatsu looked embarrassed.

This wasn't the first time Yuuki saw Manatsu worry about money. She often said that she didn't have free money to do this and that, even if she had an expensive smart phone and things of that sort. It was yet another thing that Manatsu did that contradicted itself. Just as soon as Yuuki thought he has a grasp on her, she have another layer of complexity to her.

"How was school?" Manatsu limped to a stool near the kitchen and sat down. Yuuki could see the relief in her eyes.

"Everyone's wondering about why half your gang is missing."

"Are they?" Manatsu smirked. "Bunch of gossips. What did you tell them?"

"Nothing."

"Not even Goto-san?"

"Nope."

"Heh. Thanks. You could have said something if you wanted but…" She didn't finish. Yuuki could tell her eyes were on Tomoko and she lost her train of thought. "I really like your sister. After the cold stare down she gave me when she got home she's been pretty fun to be with. It reminds me how things used to be with my sister."

"That's right, you said once that you don't get along so much anymore." Yuuki remembered.

"Yeah, kinda." Manatsu sniffed, then gagged. "Akk, smoke."

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we went out." Yuuki pondered.

"No thanks." Manatsu raised her hand. "I'm pretty tired. I called home and said I was staying another night at Megumi's or wherever. I can stay again, right?"

Yuuki shrugged. "As long as I get to bath you again."

Manatsu eyes widened, then she broke out in laughter. "A joke. A rare thing coming from you."

Tomoko came back and coughed again. "Pizza will be here in 30 minutes or so."

"Thanks." Manatsu looked embarrassed once again.

"It's less smoky in the living room, lets go there."

Tomoko walked up to Manatsu, took her hand and dragged her off. Yuuki saw Manatsu wince at the sudden movement, but she didn't sell her injury. She hobbled as smoothly as she could. Yuuki followed them. His sister was right. With the open windows, the living room was lest smoky than the kitchen, even if they were right next to each other. Manatsu was seated next to Tomoko on the couch. It was now that Yuuki could see her face better. The swelling had gone down in some of the areas were she was punched, but she had a bit of bruising by her lower lip.

"Aoi-chan said her family is doing spring cleaning this weekend." Tomoko started talking. It was like she was in the middle of a conversation they were all having before, and he just walked in on that. "She asked me to help. I said I would, if that's okay."

"Sure." Yuuki wondered why she was asking permission all of a sudden. Then again Tomoko may have been doing that because Manatsu was a guest.

"That reminds me…" Tomoko blinked. "…don't you usually help Nodoka-chan's Aunt fix her shop right about this time of year?"

Manatsu was looking at Yuuki as he nodded. "Yep. Nodoka-chan actually brought it up today."

"Did she?" Manatsu asked.

"Uh… yeah." Yuuki was smart enough to read the air on this. Clearly this was dangerous territory. Not wanting Nodoka to fall victim to some prank Manatsu cooked up he decided it would be best to pretend Nodoka's invitation was a bother. "I'm trying to get out of it this year. Just because I'm her friend doesn't mean I'm slave labor."

"Hmm?" Tomoko blinked. Yuuki was hoping she didn't say something stupid. Like how Nodoka's Aunty lived in a hotspring town, and that fixing the shop was really an excuse for a vacation. Before she got the chance to even think it, Yuuki thought he'd better plow on.

"Yeah. You know what, now that I have a girlfriend, I can use that as an excuse."

"Pardon?" Manatsu asked. "Use me for what?"

"Just act like you don't want me to go so I can turn her down."

"I don't care if you clean some batty old woman's house." Manatsu gave him a weird look. She was catching on there was something more than cleaning going on now.

"You will if she ropes you into it too." Yuuki went on. "She was hinting towards it. 'Why not invite Manatsu-chan also' is what she said when I tried to weasel out of it."

"Oh. Fuck that." Manatsu snorted, then her eyes shot to Tomoko and she clasped her hands to her mouth slightly. "Uh… I mean, tell her no thanks."

Tomoko looked at Manatsu and started laughing. "I don't give a fuck if you swear."

Yuuki slapped the back of his sisters head and they all laughed about it.


	15. Chapter 15: Photos

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

15. Photos.

When Manatsu finally returned to living in her own place, Yuuki actually had trouble sleeping alone for a few nights. He had gotten used to the girl's body next to his, and her organic pillows. But it seemed that business had to returned to how it was before, and back at school the rest of the week felt like they were running the routine. The only difference was that Manatsu seemed to be becoming a bit to chummy with Nodoka, more so than was to Yuuki's liking.

The beginning of the next week was the return of Manatsu's wrist bandage. He knew she must be taking photos and editing them on the computer again. Why did she do it so much? He wondered if it was something like how he used to turn to poetry. Perhaps it calmed her down. He didn't know, and every time he thought he'd ask her, he'd forget to.

The week went along so normally that it wasn't until Wednesday that Yuuki remembered that Manatsu wasn't a normal girlfriend. He had started thinking of her as such ever since he saw her get along with his sister so well. There was a part of him somewhere in his mind screaming at him to be on guard, but that part was starting to scream less and less these days. Manatsu was not acting strange in the least, and was even getting more and more affectionate.

He only was reminded of their arrangement on a Wednesday when Manatsu gave a glare at Nodoka in such a way that Yuuki remembered she still was out for what little payback she could get from her blackmailed position. The glare was over something trivial. Nodoka offered to buy Yuuki some tea when he split his during lunch. That was it. Yuuki must of looked too satisfied with his life at that moment that it sparked that look from Manatsu.

On Thursday morning Yuuki had forgot about the glare. The day previous day Manatsu and him walked home as usual, both teasing each other and acted like they were rivals in the joking way their relationship formed. She had seemed a bit distant before they parted, but this wasn't too out of the ordinary. It wasn't until Thursday morning that he understood that those two little things should have been a big warning sign.

He was unpacking his books before homeroom with Nodoka sitting in front of him at her desk looking at something. His life in that moment was untroubled, until he noticed that Nodoka wasn't as talkative as she normally was. Then his brain kicked on. Nodoka was in fact being distant. He thought of those two moments he had with Manatsu and suddenly felt a sense of dread.

"What's up?"

Nodoka's shoulders jumped, and she looked behind him. Her face was pale. Not saying a word she turned around and gave him a stack of photos. He looked at them and was taken aback. They were all pictures of Nodoka, only they were photos taken of her when she wasn't looking. Often the shots were at strange angles as if taken from hidden areas. Most of them were just her going about her business unaware of the photographer, but some were upskirt shots.  
"What the hell?" Yuuki gave them back to her. "Who gave you these?"

"Yasuna-chan found them in her shoe locker this morning…" Her voice was cold. "She gave them to me as soon as she saw them."

"Yasuna-chan?" Yuuki wasn't sure who that was.

"That's not all that was in the shoe locker, Yuuki-chan…" Nodoka's eyes were piercing his. Her gaze only left his when she turned around picked something else up and returned with it. She tossed it on Yuuki's desk. "Recognize this?"

Yuuki looked down and saw that it was a notebook. In fact, it looked like his missing journal. Yuuki's heart skipped a beat when he picked it up. On closer look at the cover he could tell that it wasn't the same one Manatsu took. But when he opened it up, it was filled with poetry, seemingly in his own handwriting.

He looked at it astonished. Those weren't his poems. They were all love letters in poem from to Nodoka, but they usually were sexual in their nature. On quickly reading some of them, he could tell who ever wrote them had studied how he wrote and tried their best to imitate it. The only one who could have done something so elaborate was Manatsu.

"This isn't mine." Yuuki closed the book and pressed it into Nodoka's hands.

She threw the book on the ground. "Don't lie to me. I know you write poems in that journal all the time! I've seen you do it even. And all this time you were lusting after me."

"That's not true."

"Then explain the pictures?" Nodoka shoved them back into his arms. "Those photos… the poems… all this time…"

"I told you I didn't write that, and I didn't take these pictures!" Yuuki tried to defend himself, but she wasn't listening to him. She didn't want to listen.

"I had suspicions…" Nodoka's eyes were watering. "… there were times that I thought maybe you liked me. But I brushed it off. But this? How can you act like my friend, and then write about fucking me in the ass… or cumming in my hair… how could you treat me like… like…. but then you take those pictures? I trusted you. I even loved you as a sister would. And you do this to me!"

"I didn't-" Yuuki tried again, but Nodoka's pale face with replaced with a red one. She was filled with rage now.

"All those times I stood up for you. All those years. It's just been one big waste of time, hasn't it? You're just some pervert trying to get me in the sack." Nodoka sniffled, trying to hold back tears. "How could I not of seen it before? I saw how you look at me… but I never thought…"

She was getting louder and everyone around was watching. Somewhere along the line Manatsu had shown up. She was watching just as intently as everyone else. Only her look was different. She wasn't curious. She was trying to hide a smirk. He let her guard down way too much with her, he started to trust her, and she struck. How could he not see this coming? He knew for a fact she was working Nodoka. But he didn't see it as a threat. Well now the situation was getting out of hand.

"You know what…." Nodoka turned around and gathered her stuff. "I'm done with you. I don't ever want to talk to you again. You're nothing but a big pervert who's trying to use me. And the funny thing is… I actually cared for you… I helped you get a girlfriend." She paused and looked at Manatsu. "You're going out with someone like her, and yet you're writing this stuff about me! You're sick! I hate you!"

"Nodoka-chan!"

"Don't you fucking ever say my name again! I hate you, never talk to me again!" Nodoka turned on him, and slapped him hard in the face. Then with that she walked to the front of the room and demanded a boy change seats with her. He was to scared to deny her.

It was over. The one friend in his life hated him. She didn't even want to listen to his side of the story. Manatsu had taken the one thing he had in his life away. He turned to her, but she wasn't smirking anymore. He felt broken, and he knew she could see it. Why wasn't she happy about it? He didn't care anymore. He didn't care about anything anymore. He picked up his books, the fake journal and photos, and exited the classroom.

"Togawa, class is starting" The homeroom teacher's voice came from somewhere.

Yuuki didn't care. He kept walking. He was leaving school. He was done with Manatsu. He was tired of this whole cat-and-mouse back and forth. She took away his one friend, and with such easy it pained him. She ruined his life. He could careless about anything else now.

"Goto, come back. Class is starting!"

She was following him. So what did he care? She destroyed his life and now wanted to gloat over it. He kept walking. His world was over, he was going to end hers. She could hear him calling to him from behind, but he barely noticed. He was out the school and walking on the way home before heard her again. He kept walking.

She finally caught up with him on a bridge over a small canal. He would have just kept going if she hadn't physically grabbed his shoulders and made him stop walking. She turned him around. He expected to see her famous smirk. Or else her holding back laughter at how stupid he was in trusting her. He was stupid. Maybe he deserved this.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Look… I didn't think she'd take it like that." Manatsy breathed in. "I just wanted her to think you liked her and to get mad."

Why was she justifying herself? She must of known he was going to release some of her secrets. She had to of known that she could only push him so far.

"I don't care." Yuuki muttered. "I'm done with all this."

"You can't be serious." Manatsu still was breathing heavy. "I fucked up, please, don't release something. I'll do anything."

"I'm going to post everything." Yuuki told her. "I'm tired of having to deal with all this. I have nothing to lose now."

"Don't do it." Manatsu looked like she was desperately thinking fast. "If you do, I'll let everyone beat you up again."

"So what." Yuuki said it and meant it. Nothing they could do to him would hurt as much as losing Nodoka like that. Nothing.

"Yuuki." Manatsu pleaded. It was rare for her to use his actual name. She was scared. "Please don't. I'll do anything. I swear I will."

"Leave me alone. The only way you're stopping me is if you kill me."

He started to walk away. He could hear her heavy breathing still. Then out of nowhere he was spun around and a fist collided in his face. The force was so much he was knocked on the ground over two feet from where he was standing before. His vision blurred from the pain, as he saw Manatsu shaking her fist from the sting of it.

"Fine. You want it this way…" Manatsu spoke in a shaking voice.

Yuuki's blind rage brought him to his feet. He could feel blood escape him his nose, but he didn't care. He tackled her and slammed two punches into her midsection before she could put a stop to him. She had him on the ground again, coughing a little as she did so.

"I have nothing to lose now either. The least I can do it take it out on you!" Manatsu told him in a gruff voice and kneed him in the face.

Yuuki couldn't feel it, his hatred was blocking all senses. "Same for me."

He was up again and they they wrestled. He leaving himself open for blows but in the process he was reigning them in as well. He never had been in a fight before, but he was an animal. He barely to feel anything. He was in a frenzy. Manatsu seemed the same. She was screaming like a crazy beast. He must of been doing the same.

At some point she clotheslined him. The force of the blow was such that he started to topple over the bridge. By instinct he grabbed her, but it was futile. Both of them went over the railing an into the water. The water wasn't as deep as it should have. While it did stop their fall, Yuuki still hit the bottom hard enough for it to hurt. When he came up for air, all the hits Manatsu had done to him came to him all at once. He wasn't angry anymore, and now the punishment he took was striking back.

Somehow he made it to shore. Manatsu was not far behind him. He crawled on his back, not sure he could move he was in so much pain. Manatsu was wheezing, as she crawled over him. Her eyes were a blaze with multiple emotions. She raised her fist to punch him again, but when it hit, there wasn't any power to it. She coughed and fell down over top of him, unable to move herself.

Then all at once she started crying. He pushed her off of him, sickened. She lay on her back next to him, continuing to cry without any care. He wanted to cry himself. What a strange couple they made. Both hating each other, both heartbroken. When he started to sit up, he felt Manatsu's hand on his sleeve.

"Yuuki… please…."

Yuuki wrenched arm free, though that was a mistake, it hurt like hell to do that. "There's always been one thing I don't understand. You're the type that doesn't care about what people think about you. Why do you even care about the stuff I have on you? If you were normal I could see it, but…"

Manatsu glowered at him from her sprawled out position, her lip was cut from a blow he must of dealt her. "I don't want my family to find out about what I do."

"Yeah right." Yuuki murmured, but knew she wasn't lying.

Manatsu sniffled, a big tear rolling down her cheek. "My Dad is an asshole and an angry drunk. He spends every paycheck he gets on booze and gambling. We barely have enough to get by. I started doing part-time jobs, but I can only earn so much that way." She sat up and wiped her face with her sleeve. A big dirt smear spread across her face. "That's why I started doing embarrassing jobs. _Momorio Burusera _pays so much… and I get a lot of money for making cosplay outfits for people and modeling them. I make enough to substitute for what my Dad can't bring in. But if my sisters found out what I'm doing… They… they'd hate me."

Yuuki hated himself. He felt sorry for her again. But he was through with her. He didn't want to deal with crap from her anymore. "I'm done blackmailing you."

"Please Yuuki… you know everything now… I wouldn't never do anything to Tomo-chan, and if you do this to me…"

"I said i was done blackmailing you, not that I was going to publish your secrets." Yuuki retold her. "I'll erase everything, and we can pretend all this never happened."

"If you do that…." Manatsu stopped herself. "…. then you're an idiot. You have nothing and I can do whatever I want to you."

"I don't care. Aside from my sister, you already took away the most important person to me from my life. What else can you do to compare to that?"


	16. Chapter 16: Enemies

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

16. Enemies.

When Yuuki arrived home that day, he deleted everything. He even forced Manatsu to tag along and watch him do it, and gave her the empty USB drive that held the information. Then he told her the story of how he got her secrets in the first place. She didn't speak a word to him, just listened and watched him. When he was done explaining she just stared at him in silence for the longest time, and then left.

It was all over. No more Manatsu. No more blackmails. No more plans upon plans. No more looking over his shoulder, protecting Nodoka. Nothing. He had nothing.

When Tomoko arrived home from school she was worried about the state he was in. He told her a story about how he and Manatsu fell over the bridge, after he broke up with her. It was near enough to the truth at any rate. Tomoko, the one person left in his life, switched into loving sister-mode and cuddled with him for the rest of the night. Being with her, he realized that it was untrue about what he thought before. He wasn't completely alone. He still had Tomoko.

But Tomoko could only be with him for so long. Ever since he got a girlfriend, she was forced to get a social life of her own. She had taken to hanging out with friends, and now this had become a routine. So as the days went by, Yuuki saw that she was struggling over her duty as a sister and her wants and needs to be with her friends. She'd tentatively ask if she could go out, not wanting to be a bad sister and leave him alone when he needed her. But he wasn't about to let her do that. He pretended he was fine every time this came up and told her she should go. Why should she have to suffer just because he was?

School life was as he expected it would be after such an event. Nodoka had outed him out as a pervert to the whole class even going so far as to move away from him. She was always pretty popular, and her assessment of him seemed to be the general consensus now. Part of him longed for the punishment. Had he not secretly liked her anyway. Sure it wasn't to the extremes as everyone thought, but he did write poems about her. And he also blackmailed another girl to get what he wanted. He deserved the treatment he was getting.

On Manatsu's end the only thing that changed was that she didn't look to him anymore. Not that he was aware of, anyway. She certainly wasn't talking to him, and he almost never saw her on the way home, and if he did, they'd ignore each other. But the odd thing was that her gang didn't beat up on him. They've shove him a bit, or talk down to him… but they did this to everyone. Manatsu must of told them to treat him like everyone else. The worst he got was Megumi slamming his head into the shoe lockers one day. It didn't hurt as much as seeing Nodoka watching it, with a slight smile to her face.

And so life continued on like this for about two weeks. Yuuki sunk more and more into depression, he found it difficult to eat and sleep. While he was miserable, however, he still longed for it. He felt like this was something that he deserved for being so stupid in the first place. One time he saw Keiji slinking around and realized that they were in the same boat now. It was an odd feeling.

Then one day at the end of the second week Yuuki watched as Megumi snatch some boy's phone and start messing around on it. He ignored it and was about to leave for home when she screamed and pushed the boy to the ground. Yuuki, along with the rest of the class, looked at the display in front of them. Before Yuuki was mildly interested, but now that he saw it, he realized the boy Megumi was messing with was the same guy that had come to school on the flood day, and was far too interested in Manatsu. The pervert.

"What's the meaning of this?" Megumi was shouting, scrolling through the photos. "Where did you get these pictures of me?"

The guy stammered something but Yuuki couldn't hear what he said. There was a crowd now. Megumi continued scrolling the phones, her eyes widening. "And Miki-san is here too…. and Yusuna-san…. and…" She paused. She looked at Nodoka. "You too."

"Not another one." Nodoka groan, shooting Yuuki a dark look.

"No… do you still have those pictures from before?" Megumi asked.

"Only one…" Nodoka said. "I didn't want that pervert to keep the panty-shot picture."

Everyone watched as she searched for it, produced it, and handed it to Megumi. Megumi scanned the phone then looked at the picture again. "It's the same."

Nodoka eyes darted to Yuuki, and she advanced on him in a fit of rage. "You sold him those pictures didn't you. And you took those images of those other girls! How could you do something like that?"

Yuuki had enough of this. "Shut up, dumbass." Being sleep deprived had make him more cranky than he normally would. But being constantly blamed for stuff he didn't do was what really pissed him off.

Nodoka looked taken back and tried to slap him. He caught her hand weakly, but she still spouted off. "I hate you so much. Why can't you leave me alone?"

Yuuki let go of her hand and glared at her. "Try thinking for once? Even an idiot can figure out that if I was so obsessed with you before, why would I want anyone else looking at you?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't take those pictures before." Yuuki repeated the same line he said two weeks ago. Only this time people were listening to him. "I told you that, but you just jumped to conclusions. If he has them… and pictures of other girls, then who the hell do you think was the one taking the pictures?"

Megumi stomped her foot on the guy's groin and pressed lightly. "Tell the truth or I'll squeeze down."

He didn't speak until Megumi made good on her threat finally he gasped out. "Okay! Okay! I was the one taking those pictures!"

Nodoka looked shocked. "B-But the journal…"

The guy crawled away from Megumi, holding his groin. "Somebody blackmailed me. I don't know who. Somehow they found out that I had these pictures. So they gave me this weird journal and told me to stick the photos I took of Goto-san along with the journal in some girl's locker. I only did what I was told."

"N-No." Nodoka blinked her face white. She turned on Yuuki grabbing his arm. "It was you who did it…."

"It wasn't me." Yuuki pulled himself away. "Someone set me up."

Manatsu finally spoke up. Yuuki was wondering how long she was going to wait until she got involved. "So who here has it out on Togawa? I mean before Nodoka-chan completely embarrassed him in front of everyone?"

Everyone looked around as if the true blackmailer would come forward but no one did. Yuuki was sure Manatsu was the one behind clearing his name, but she still wasn't even bothering to look at him. Nodoka was following the same tactic. She turned herself away from him.

"I know." Someone said. "I bet it was Takeda."

"Huh?" Manatsu looked at the person who brought this up. "Why Keiji?"

"Well who else hates Togawa? I mean he used to pick on him all the time, then all of a sudden you dump him for doing that. Then to add insult to injury Togawa goes and starts dating you. I'd be mad about that if I were him."

Nodoka whimpered and ran out the class, clearly in tears. Yuuki watched her go. He realized he didn't feel sorry for her in the least. The revelation of this fact made him hate himself even more.

"Hey, aren't you going to go after her?" Manatsu shouted at him.

"What for?" Yuuki pushed his book bag strap over his shoulder. "She's the one who dropped me, not the other way around."

And with that Yuuki left for home. He could hear some of the other classmate mumbling in his wake. Some agreeing with him, most didn't. It just wasn't very nice of him to let Nodoka run off in tears like that, but he didn't care. She obviously didn't care about how she made him feel. She didn't even attempt to apologize once the truth came to light. Manatsu had made his heart black.

But having thought that Yuuki wondered. He was sure Keiji wasn't smart enough to organize that elaborate set up on him, and knew for a fact it was Manatsu who did. So why, all of a sudden, did she decide to clear his name? She hadn't even looked at him in two weeks, now this. Maybe she just wanted to punish Keiji some more, he didn't know.

The weekend was filled with questions upon questions. Sadly he had no Tomoko to distract him. She decided this was the weekend to have a sleep over at Aoi-chan's house. If there was a time he would have asked her not to go, it would have been now, but he knew he couldn't call her away from her trip. So the weekend was spent with Yuuki staring at the walls, not eating and not sleeping. Just staring.

Monday came and Yuuki went to class as usual. Everyone had forgiven him of his pervert-crimes, but he was still an outcast. Nodoka didn't return to her seat and continued to ignore him. He knew her too well to know she felt so much shame that she couldn't face him. By the time lunch came around, Yuuki didn't pack one and just stared out the window. The lack of food and sleep were getting to him, but he just didn't care about anything anymore. Things were fixed but his life was still ruined.

When Tuesday came about, it was more of the same at first. Yuuki was barely keeping awake during lectures now. But when lunch came around, he had planned to look out the window again, until a bento box was placed in front of him and someone sat down next to him. He looked lazily at who it was and was slightly surprised to see it was Manatsu.

"I made you lunch." She told him. "Eat up."

"Thanks for the gesture but you don't have to…" Yuuki said.

"I'm not asking, I'm telling." Manatsu opened the bento box and shoved it closer to him.

She stared at him until he gave in and took a bite. Then another. If he were going to be honest, the food wasn't anything spectacular, but he was famished and finished everything.

"I'm glad you liked it."

She left him. She didn't talk to him for the rest of the day. In fact she didn't talk to him even when he was eating. She just watched him. The next day at lunch, she showed up with another bento box and forced him to eat again. Then the day after that she repeated it. Finally Yuuki was wondering why she was doing all this.

"You're going to die if you don't eat." Manatsu told him. "I'm worried."

"How could you tell?"

"You've lost a lot of weight." She looked away from him, obviously hiding her emotions. "I'm scared you'll die. I thought if I fixed things with with Goto-san she'd… but I guess that didn't work."

Yuuki looked at her for a long time, not sure what to make of her. She kept her head turned so he couldn't look at her directly. Then as if she couldn't take it anymore she shoveled more food into his mouth and told him to keep eating. When he finished the lunch she made, she left him. Once more she didn't say anything else.

That was enough to bring Yuuki out of his depression. When he went home that day, he ate dinner and went to bed early. For some reason knowing that Manatsu was that worried about him made him feel embarrassed at his self pity. He had to be really bad off if she was the one who cared about his health.

"Thank goodness." Tomoko told him in the morning when he finally ate breakfast with her. "I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I guess your break up was harder on you than I thought. But at least you're eating now."

If Manatsu's lunch wasn't enough to pull him out of his funk, hearing that his sister was worried about him as well did. He couldn't let her down anymore. So make special sure she didn't have to worry abut him anymore, he decided he was going to get better.

It was in that mentality that had Yuuki returned to school. He hadn't noticed before, but people weren't avoiding him. In fact the whole time they were looking at him, some with worried expressions. He had been too busy staring at the walls or out of windows he didn't notice. People were extra polite to him, and he wondered how long they had been doing so and he hadn't noticed. In fact the only one who seemed indifferent towards him was Nodoka.

When lunch came around again, Manatsu sat down next to him and offered another lunch. Yuuki accepted it without and protest and ate it. She still watched him, making sure he was getting it all down.

"Thank you, Natsu-chan." Yuuki said after a few bites.

"It's nothing… I can't really cook so it must taste awful."

"Not for the lunch. For… for slapping in head and telling me to get over myself." Yuuki looked down at the lunch, not wanting to look her in the eye. "I was thinking to much about myself I worried everyone."

"Does this mean you're going to start taking care of yourself now?" Manatsu asked.

Yuuki nodded, and he saw her sigh slightly. "I'm just surprised that you even bothered."

Manatsu rubbed the back of her neck. "We never officially broke up so… I guess it's a girlfriend's duty to care about stuff like that."

He gave her a raised eyebrow. "I would have thought clotheslining me off a bridge was a good enough declaration of separation."

"Naw." Manatsu said. "Now if I dropped kicked you, then we'd had been over. It was just a lover's quarrel."

Yuuki laughed. He couldn't remember the last time he had. "In all seriousness, now that your name is free you don't have to bother with me anymore. I've put you through enough. I appreciate you looking out for me, but-"

"Just shut up." Manatsu rested her head on her raised hand. "We're on a truce."

"Still enemies then?" Yuuki asked but knew they weren't, at least not on his end.

"Yep." Manatsu leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Bitter enemies."


	17. Chapter 17: Family

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

17. Family.

A week went by had returned Yuuki to his previous self. He was healthy again, and Manatsu wasn't ignoring him anymore. She was acting like she used to with him when they were on their dates and spent time alone. The only difference was she didn't revert back to the vindictive delinquent. She even still made lunches for him, despite her not needing to.

Yuuki was glad to have someone like Manatsu, someone who he could be with but didn't have to entertain. Now that the gloves were off, they just enjoyed each other's company. She'd come over to his house just to watch tv sometimes, play games, or just hang out and that was enough for the both of them. Yuuki also didn't mind the return of Manatsu's bed sharing habit.

On their walk home before the weekend, they journeyed together in silence both in their own worlds. This was normal. But he could tell something was on Manatsu's mind that wasn't just her thinking in silence. He could see the geers in her head turning.

"What is it?"

"Hmm?" Manatsu blinked, clearly he had interrupted the internal dialogue she was having with herself. "Oh. I was thinking about Goto-san."

He had wondered when this was going to come up. If he had gained a relationship with Manatsu, he still had lost one in Nodoka. She still hadn't even acknowledged her actions to Yuuki, or even attempted to apologize. The more time went on, the more Yuuki knew that she could never proper talk to him again. She had wasted too much time, and a gesture now would only look half hearted. Yuuki started to feel sorry for her, but every time he did it seemed to annoy Manatsu. This seemed one of those times.

"Forget about her." Yuuki looked at her.

"It's really my fault about everything." Manatsu spoke softly. "I should do something."

"If you're worried about me, don't." Yuuki said. "I got you now, as lame as that sounds, so I'm fine."

"Don't say sweet things like that when I'm trying to be selfless." Manatsu smiled at him. "Truth is… I'm still jealous of her."

"I didn't know you were before." Yuuki acted innocent.

Manatsu just rolled her eyes at him. "You know part of the reason I started the rift between you two in the first place was because-" She stopped. "Damn it."

"Because of what?" Yuuki looked at her almost give herself away.

Manatsu sighed and stopped walking, facing him. "We're not just friends, Yuu-kun. We never have been. First we were enemies, then rivals, now we're something else. I care about you more than I should, and you for me…I think. So let's stop kidding ourselves about it."

"Is this the big confession scene?" Yuuki joked, not sure if she was being serious or not. She didn't laugh. She was being serious.

"Y-Yes. It's about time I admit it. You already know anyway, so what's the point of denying it." Manatsu squirmed a bit, looking at her shoes.

"So you do love me, huh?" Yuuki asked, seeing her not meet his eyes. She better not look up and start laughing at him. His heart was racing and he didn't think he could take it.

"Maybe." Manatsu mumbled, then shook her head. She raised her eyes and looked into his. "No, fuck it, I'm going to say it properly. It's long over due. I love you Yuu-kun. I have ever since that night when you took me in after that fight….and I liked you even before that. I denied it to myself after our date on the beach… but then you came for me… and took care of me… That night I knew I was in love."

Yuuki swallowed. He knew how hard it must be for her to show her vulnerable side. "That night, before you went to sleep, you asked me if I loved Nodoka-chan." Yuuki remembered. "I didn't give you a straight answer."

"That's why I did went on with the journal-plot. I was planning on doing it anyway, but hearing you back-peddle about the Odo-san question my jealousy took over… I didn't want her to get in my way. So that's why I feel bad about it. I was taking it out on her, not you."

"Oh." Yuuki looked away. "Well, it's in the past now."

"I thought you'd hate me after I admitted that." Manatsu sighed slightly. "More to the point though… I just admitted that I love you, and we're still talking about that girl. I realize I'm not as great as someone you've loved for that long but-"

"Natsu-chan, I don't love her anymore." Yuuki stopped her before she embarrassed herself. "I stopped along time ago."

"No you haven't." Manatsu pouted.

"It's true." Yuuki looked her straight in the eyes. Then he explained everything. How he knew it was over the moment Nodoka willing supported a relationship with Manatsu, and how he gradually learned accept it. Then when she turned on him without even allowing him to explain himself, he knew he could never feel for her the feelings he had on her before. And even since then, she still wouldn't talk to him, He told Manatsu he didn't blame anything she did after the journal-plot was exposed. Nodoka acted on her own after that, with no influence from anyone else. But to nail the point he repeated. "I don't love Nodoka-chan anymore…"

"I see." Manatsu was smiling slightly. "Still, I wrecked your friendship."

"It was already wrecked if she was so willing to drop it." Yuuki reminded her. "You just gave it a kick in the butt is all."

"Well then." Manatsu looked slightly embarrassed. "I confessed to you… you don't like the girl I thought you did…"

"Are you fishing for a confession?" Yuuki asked jokingly.

"It would be nice. You're hanging me out to dry here!" Manatsu laughed. "But I understand if you don't like me the way I like you… I'm happy just to finally say it."

Yuuki thought about it. "I don't want to say it yet. When I tell you I want to know for sure that it's the right time."

"Forget about that and just tell me now." Manatsu pushed him jokingly. "I'll show you my panties if you do."

Yuuki laughed. "Well in that case-"

Manatsu stopped him. "I know, I know. I think I want to hear it from you when you mean it."

"I care for you." Yuuki gave her a crumb. "I don't want to lose you. You may have fallen for me that day when I helped you after the fight, but you saved my life when you started making me lunch. You didn't have to do that. I'll never forget what you did for me."

"Okay, that's enough for now." Manatsu's eyes were watering slightly. "Anyway… I think I want you to meet my sister."

"Hmm?"

"I'm always going to your house. My Dad shouldn't be gone, so why not come to my place and I'll introduce you to my sister?"

"Are you sure?"

Manatsu nodded. "We're starting to talk again. She could tell I've been acting different lately and asked me if I had a boyfriend. So I've been talking about you… I know we're not really going out but-"

"Yeah we are." Yuuki corrected her. "As of right now, it's official, okay?

"Truce forever?" Manatsu's cheeks went pink. "Okay then. I want you to meet Kaorin. She's a little bitchy but I think she'll like you."

As they continued walking Yuuki could tell that Manatsu was getting nervous. Her nerves were making him nervous, and he didn't know why. He wondered why Manatsu was so concerned about her little sisters opinion. As they passed his house, Yuuki nerves were replace with that of curiosity. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen where Manatsu lived before. She had always come to his house. So it was with great shock that he found out she lived only a few houses from his, across the street. He literally could see her house from his window.

She invited him in, kicked off her shoes, and announced to anyone in hear shot that she was home. Yuuki followed her as Manatsu looked around the living room for her sister. Taking a moment, he looked around the house. It was clear the same architect built both his house and hers. It was the exact same layout. He couldn't get lost in this house if he tried. The main difference was the house seemed to be filled with a bunch of clutter. Stacks of books, knick-knacks, and all sorts of things littered the place. That wasn't to say the house was dirty, it was just filled with piles of organized mess.

Manatsu returned to the hallway and shrugged, then grabbed his hand. They went up the stairs. She knocked on the door that would be his room if they were in his house. Apparently that was Kaorin's room. She didn't answer so Manatsu gave a disappointed pout and traveled to the door that would Tomoko's if they were in his house. So that was Manatsu's room.

They entered in and like the rest of the house it was filled with organized clutter. The floor was covered with her clothing though, so her room was also a mess. She didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by it. There were a lot of costumes around, some in mid-progress, some completed. One wall was clean of anything and had lights facing it. Yuuki correctly guessed that where she modeled and took pictures of herself.

"Oh… I forgot. I should return this." Manatsu went to her dresser and produced his real poetry journal. "I keep meaning to give it back but…"

Yuuki looked at it. It didn't seem important to him anymore. It was a Yuuki that didn't exist. "You keep it."

"Huh?"

"It's a memento from how we met." Yuuki encouraged her, handing it back.

"Oh. Thanks." Manatsu blushed. "You say some nasty shit about me in here you know."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Manatsu blushed slightly. "I just realized we're in my room alone."

"Just figured that out?" Yuuki smirked at her.

"Well I wouldn't care normally but I did just confessed to you so give me a break." Manatsu scratched her nose.

"H-Hello?" A meek voice came from the door.

"Oh shit." Manatsu's face was red. "Kaorin, did you hear all that?"

"I didn't mean to Natsu…"

Yuuki blinked. This whole time he had been using a nickname for Manatsu that her little sister used. On looking at her, she was definitely the delinquent's sister. She was barely smaller than him, which made her tall for a 14 year old, was less developed than her busty sister, didn't have a tan or blonde hair, but other than that she was the spitting image of her Manatsu. As he was looking at her, she was looking at him.

"This is your boyfriend?" Kaorin appraised him. "At least he's better looking than that troll."

"Don't say that." Manatsu looked even more embarrassed. "Anyway, this is Yuuki Togawa. Yuu-kun, this is my little sister Kaori."

"Pleased to meet you." Kaorin smiled.

"Like wise." Yuuki felt nervous.

"Have you done it yet?"

Both Manatsu and Yuuki coughed and stammered over the abruptness of that statement. "No!" They both shouted.

"Oh." Kaorin smirked, that same devious smile Manatsu often displayed. "I just thought that since you're gone from home so often you to were doing it."

"We haven't done it yet." Manatsu told her. "And you're one to talk. You're away from home as much as I am."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kaorin admitted. "So were you going to do it now? Did I interrupt?"

"Yes Kaorin." Manatsu joked sarcastically. "You completely ruined the moment. Now I can't fuck him in the middle of the day while my sister is in the next room. Damn, my plan is foiled."

"Uh…" Yuuki wanted to remind the sisters that he was still there. "Soooo…"

Kaorin jumped slightly and raised her hands in defense. "I'm not saying my sister's a slut or anything. She's only had sex with that troll. So you don't have to worry about anything."

"Kaorin!" Manatsu was burying her face in her hands. "Will you stop saying things like that?"

"What? I'm just telling him the truth. You only did it like three times here at home…"

"Shut up, you little brat!" Manatsu shouted.

Laughing Kaorin gave a fake opps face. "So Sorry!"

"You fucking little…" She chased Kaorin out the room and slammed the door. All the while the girl was laughing loudly until they heard her run to her room and slam the door. They could still hear her laughing in her own room when a mortified Manatsu gave Yuuki a weak smile. "And that'd be my sister. I told you she's a bitch."

"It's okay." Yuuki felt embarrassed.

"I only did it seven times." Manatsu stammered defensively. "He could only last like seconds anyway and I couldn't feel anything because was so tiny…."

"You don't have to paint a graphic picture of it, thanks." Yuuki rubbed the back of his neck. "Besides, I already know, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Manatsu sighed and sat on her bed. "Somehow I pictured this turning out a bit better. But at least my sister doesn't hate you."

"How can you tell?"

"She actually talked to you." Manatsu shrugged. "Though it wasn't anything anyone would want to hear."

"Well that's something." Yuuki said, sitting down next her. He was so used to doing so in his room that he forgot that maybe the act here wasn't polite.

But Manatsu didn't say anything. She just grabbed his hand, still looking shy. "I love you." She muffled out, as if Kaorin were still in the room.  
"SHE LOVES YOU!" Kaorin shouted in a sing-songy voice from the next room over.

"SHUT UP YOU FUCKING BRAT!"


	18. Chapter 18: Truce

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

18. Truce.

When Saturday rolled around, Manatsu found herself at Yuuki house again. Yuuki couldn't blame her. The rest of the visit the day before was filled with nothing but Kaorin eavesdropping on their conversation. Even if the mood did strike them to kiss or do whatever, the girl was keen on interrupting it. So when Manatsu showed up early Saturday morning, Yuuki wasn't surprised.

"I'm so mad at my sister." Manatsu fumed, complaining about the events of the day before even with Tomoko in the room. "Why can't she be like Tomo-chan?"

Yuuki looked at Tomoko, who obviously didn't have a clue about what was going on. "It's just been the two of us since we were little. That's probably why."

"Well my Dad is never around and when he is, he's a fucking violent drunk…" Manatsu grumbled, but stopped herself. "Anyway, I came here to get away from all that."

"Sounds like to me your sister is lonely." Tomoko inserted. "Maybe she just wanted your attention?"

Manatsu thought about it, and kept silent for a while. Yuuki thought that Tomoko probably was right about that. From what he gathered, both sisters ran away from home whenever things got bad and as a result they missed each other. Instead of acting affectionate like a normal family would, they acted out on each other because that's all they knew how to do.

"Hey Yuu-kun, wanna make out?" Manatsu asked, completely oblivious to Tomoko being in the room.

"Um." Tomoko looked embarrassed. "I guess that's my cue to go."

"Damn it." Manatsu smiled at her looking slightly ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be kicking you out like that. I'm just thinking about myself."

"It's okay… You need some alone time." Tomoko got up. "If you need me, I'll be at Aoi-chan's, okay?"

"You don't have to go, I shouldn't have said that." Manatsu said looking all the more guilty.

"No. It's okay really." Tomoko smiled and looked at Yuuki. "When girlfriends are upset, it's the boyfriend's duty to make her feel better, 'kay?"

"R-Right."

Yuuki watched her leave. He wasn't sure if he was mad at Manatsu or not. The way she tried to apologize after she did that told him she was trying to be a better person. He couldn't expect her to change her colors over night. Tomoko at least seemed to understand. As soon as they were alone in his room, Manatsu's tongue was immediately in his mouth. She seemed hungry, and he knew most of it was that she wanted to forget about her troubles and just feel good.

She was on top of him on his bed for some time, both lost in the kiss. So it was with a jolt that both of them were startled from their entangled position when the doorbell rang. Manatsu even did that squeak Yuuki liked whenever she was caught off guard. The doorbell rang again, and Yuuki gave a disappointed look at Manatsu.

"Just ignore it." She grumbling knowing he wouldn't.

"Sorry…" Yuuki sighed. "Wait here… I'll see what they want."

So, after adjusting himself, he went down the stairs. He was more than a little annoyed at whoever was calling on him. On opening the door, the annoyance went away and was replaced by shock and dread. Nodoka was standing in front of his house, holding a box, and looking completely red in the face.

"Y-Yuuki-chan… can I come in?"

Yuuki just stared at her, amazed to see her.

"Well… I guess I can't blame you if you don't want to talk to me." Nodoka's eyes shot down to the box she was holding.

"Let her in." Both Yuuki and Nodoka looked up the stairs to see Manatsu looking down at them.

"Oh… I didn't know you had company… I'll just…"

"Come in." Manatsu ordered. "Let's go to Yuu-kun's room."

Somehow Manatsu's word was law. Within moments they were all in Yuuki's room. The bed looked unsettled as Manatsu and him were rolling around on it. Yuuki hoped Nodoka didn't notice. Nodoka took a seat at Yuuki's computer chair, while Manatsu forced him to sit down next to her on his bed. She was staking her territory in less than a subtile way. Part of him smirked at the idea that she was still jealous.

"So…" Manatsu spoke first, as Nodoka clearly was to nervous to say anything. "What's up?"

"I… I… I just came to give Yuuki-chan back his stuff." Nodoka indicated at the box. "Things that were at my house."

"I see." Manatsu scrunched her lips. "Is that it?"

"Uh…" Nodoka looked completely unnerved. "S-So you're still dating then?"

"Yep." Manatsu quickly said. "Is that a problem?"

"No!" Nodoka answered just as quickly. "No… not at all."

Yuuki sighed. This was getting them no where. "Okay everyone… Truce."

Manatsu looked at him, raised her eyebrows, then gave a soft smile. "Yeah… okay. Truce."

"Truce?" Nodoka looked confused.

"Whenever Yuu-kun and I have a fight or something, one of us will say 'Truce'. When that happens, everything that we're dealing with at the time doesn't matter. That way we can say whatever it is we want to and not have to worry about it changing anything when the truce is over."

"I see." Nodoka said. "Well if that's the case… I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend, and I wish you'd stop thinking of me as an enemy."

Both Manatsu and Yuuki looked surprised at how fast she changed gears.

"Truth is, I've known Yuuki-chan all my life and I can only think of him as a brother." Nodoka went on. "Even if I knew he liked me."

"Hmpt. So that's why you were so hard on him." Manatsu snorted. "You were looking for an excuse to drop him."

"It wasn't that." Nodoka sighed. "Okay… maybe it was. Part of me realized that I missed him just being mine. When he was with you I got a bit jealous. So I thought if he hated me it would be easier on the both of us to move on."

"As interesting as all this is, we were just in the middle of something." Manatsu crossed her arms under her chest. Yuuki could tell she was getting protective again.

"It's not what you think. I really don't want to steal your boyfriend. Like I said before, I don't see him as boy, but a friend. But I knew that he liked me. That's why I decided to get out of his life. If he still liked me, things would be hard on you."

"Well he doesn't like you anymore." Manatsu said, then looked at Yuuki to nail the point home.

Yuuki felt weird admitting all this. "I did like you, Nodoka-chan… but when you fully accepted Natsu-chan as my girlfriend, I knew that whatever fantasy I had in my head was done. So I moved on."

"But why…" Nodoka was looking at her shoes. "Why were you so heartbroken when I dumped you in front of everyone?"

"You're his best friend, idiot." Manatsu stood up. "How can he not be upset?"

"I see." Nodoka still couldn't look him in the eye. "I'm sorry how I acted. I really am. I know that it must sound stupid after all this time but… I'm sorry and I miss you."

Manatsu was looking at him. For the first time in a long while he couldn't read her. Now Nodoka was looking at him. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He wanted Nodoka back in his life, but how could he just forgive her like that. She was ignoring the fact that she dropped him by basically calling him a pervert to the whole class. It wasn't like she just stopped talking to him, she low-blowed him.

His silence must of spoke volumes to her. She stood up. "I get it. It's asking too much for you to forgive me just like that. I-I'll go… and let you think about, okay?"

Yuuki nodded and she left the room on her own. She could hear her let herself out. There was silence in the room. He could feel Manatsu bending down and holding her face with her hands. Obviously she was bothered by all this. She got up and looked in the box she brought over. Yuuki watched her blandly not sure what he should be feeling at the moment. When she turned around, he saw her eyes were watering slightly, and could tell she was holding in tears.

"What?" Yuuki stood up.

"That… fucking girl." Manatsu sniffed and looked away. "Why'd just have to ruin everything?"

"What?"

"Don't be so naive." Manatsu returned to the bed and pulled him down next to her. "Girls don't bring back a box of stuff to people they are just apologizing too. Especially not one with precious memories."

"Don't get jealous, she said-"

"She only said that because I was here and I threw her off." Manatsu interrupted. "I know you think I'm being crazy… but this is something a girl knows about."

"What are you talking about?"

"She came to apologize, yes. She was even prepared if things went wrong." Manatsu nodded at the box. "But she wasn't just here to apologize. She loves you."

"What?"

"Why do you think I was so jealous? It wasn't just because she's a girl. She liked you. I know, I was watching you for sometime, remember? I saw that after we became a couple that she was getting jealous. That's why I struck. Part of my jealousy issues… Anyway, if you don't believe me then believe the things she just admitted herself. She said wanted you all to herself, she said she was jealous of me. But it wasn't friendship she wanted. She wanted you."

"But she's said over and over that I'm like a brother to her."

"You started out that way." Manatsu continued. "But I think that changed when she saw someone else liked you. She thought you were hers forever, then someone else came along. It changed her mind quick. So what does a girl do when they're in love? They do something rash. For you're own good she decided to give up on you so you could be happy with me. That's why she did what she did. She wanted you to forget her so you could be happy with me."

"That's just stupid." Yuuki stood up and looked at the box she brought in. Manatsu was right about one thing though. The things Nodoka brought over were personal items he had given to her, not something he accidentally left at her house.

"See… I'm not just making things up." Manatsu returned her face back to her hands. "That fucking girl."

"If she loved me, don't you think she would have seen through the photos and the journal? Even if she didn't, then she could have taken the opportunity to be with me."

"She saw through it, alright. She knew I set it up to keep you away from her." Manatsu sniffed again, a big tear rolling down her cheek. "She was being noble and giving you up, expecting me to swoop in and defend you."

Yuuki saw her agonized face. "I don't love Nodoka-chan."

Manatsu looked up. "I know that's a lie. You don't have to say that because you feel sorry for me."

"I don't love her." Yuuki repeated. "What can I saw to convince you of that?"

Manatsu turned away. "I-If you want to be with her, I won't stand in your way. We'll still be f-friends, I can't let you out of my life… but… but don't parade your happiness in front of me, okay? I won't be able to take it." She stood up and started for the door. "I… gotta go."

"Manatsu." Yuuki said clearly, giving her full name. Not a nickname, no honorific, just her name. She stopped but didn't turn around. "I don't love Nodoka-chan anymore."

Manatsu stood planted in place, still not turning around. Her shoulder was quivering. "You keep saying that, but how do I know it's true?"

"Because," Yuuki walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I love you."

He could feel her shaking. She was sobbing. He held her close and kissed her neck lightly as that was the only place he could reach from the position he was in. She continued to cry.

"D-Don't just say that…" Manatsu inhaled sharply. "You can't just say that to me so easily."

"Manatsu." Yuuki repeated. "If this isn't the right time to say it, then when is? I love you."

She turned around, and plastered her lips to his. It wasn't the best kiss in the world. Her face was wet with tears, and she was still weeping even as her tongue invaded his mouth. But it was the most touching and intense kiss he ever experienced with her. All her love, all her emotions was packed into that kiss, and he returned his feelings back to her.

After a good long time, she pulled back, her face red from crying and kissing. She looked a mess, and Yuuki thought she was the most beautiful he'd seen her. "I love you." She spoke in a small little girl's voice.

"I love you too, Manatsu." Yuuki told her, lost in her watery eyes.

She pulled away and wiped her face, laughing at herself. "I'm such a fucking drama queen, you must think I'm hideous."

"I think you're wonderful."

"Shut up, you don't have to butter me up anymore." Manatsu smiled at him all the same.

"I'm not. School uniform swapping aside, you're the best thing that's happen to me."

Manatsu looked down, still looking very girlish. "You too…"


	19. Chapter 19: Nodoka Final Chapter

Kanojo no Sukeban

by Glee-chan

19. Nodoka.

Sunday morning Yuuki woke up with Manatsu sleeping next to him. She had stayed the whole day Saturday. When Tomoko returned home, she still was acting like a little girl. It was like she was on a day-long high. Tomoko was taken a back by this behavior and it was only hours later did Yuuki have a chance to explain that he confessed to her. When they went to bed that night Manatsu was all over him. They made out through-out most of the night until at some point they fell asleep.

It was nearing 10 am when Yuuki woke, and he just stared at Manatsu's sleeping face. Even if she wasn't sleeping, she looked at peace. Finally admitting that Nodoka was nothing to him must of taken a lot of stress off her back. She even had a smile in her sleep. Despite himself he gave her a kiss on the cheek. She didn't wake up, but she just smiled all the more.

Then he looked at the box Nodoka left on his desk. He didn't know if everything Manatsu thought about the girl was true, but it was clear that he couldn't continue to be with Manatsu if Nodoka loomed in the background. He wanted to forgive her, he realized, but didn't want to upset Manatsu. He turned to Manatsu, looking at her sleep some more and knew what he had to do. Nodoka would just have to be an acquaintance now.

When Manatsu woke up, Yuuki waited until she was ready to hear strong news, then he told her what he decided on. She listened quietly, allowing him to explain himself. Then she rolled over on her back looking at the ceiling.

"I know you love me, and you're doing this for me, and that I shouldn't put you in a position make you choose…" Manatsu said after a moment. "…but I can't say I'm not happy you chose me over her."

"Don't feel bad about this." Yuuki told her.

"If you kiss me, I'll try." Manatsu smirked. He kissed her. "Okay, I feel better."

They had a late breakfast. Tomoko decided that she wanted a bath afterwards and Manatsu invited herself. Yuuki had the vague impression that Manatsu was trying to get on Tomoko's good side. As she went into the bath ahead of the young girl she gave Yuuki a smiling shrug and joined her. Manatsu didn't have to win his sister over. She already accepted her. As he was gearing up to return to his room, the door bell rang. He was closer to the door than the day before, so the person only rang once. It was Nodoka again.

"I'm sorry Yuuki-chan." Nodoka blustered and invited herself in. He could tell she hadn't slept the night before. She walked into the living room, pacing around as if she was on a caffeine high. "I'm going crazy knowing that we're fighting."

Yuuki offered her a seat. She sat down, but her left leg was jimmying up and down. "Before you say anything… I want to know something."

Nodoka was looking at her nervous leg. "Yeah?"

"Was all that junk you said to Natsu-chan true yesterday?"

Taking a moment to think of her answer she looked up at him with her lips slightly pooched to the side. "Most of it."

"I'd like to know the truth."

"Fine." Nodoka looked away. "I don't see you as a brother. I was lying about that. I do have feelings for you. And she's right. I was giving up on you so … so you'd be happy. Even if it was her that… nevermind."

"What?"

"Nothing." Nodoka quickly said, then continued. "It doesn't matter now. The facts are that you're with Goto-san now… and … and I'll just have to settle for being your friend. That is if you want me to be."

So everything Manatsu feared was correct. It pained him to find out this way. "Nodoka, I forgive you… but the thing is-"

"Goto-san hates me." Nodoka interrupted bitterly. "I know. If you only knew what she… nevermind."

"If you're talking about the frame-up, she told me about that." Yuuki thought he'd at least let that out of the bag. "She told me she was threatened by you. She didn't think it'd turn out as bad as it did…"

"You know?" Nodoka blinked then stood up. "You know that she did that to us and you're still okay with it?"

"To us?"

"Heh, I saw right through her." Nodoka rambled on half crazy. "I knew she was just using you, like she always did before. So I kept my eyes on you. She couldn't take it so she had to get rid of me. But I can't take it anymore. You're mine and I can't just let her do this to you. Especially when… when I can take care of you better than she can."

"Nodoka-chan…" Yuuki looked at her, surprised by this change of events.

"I know! I sound crazy." Nodoka laughed and sat down, the heel of her leg bouncing up and down again. "I drank way to much coffee. My heart is racing."

"I want you to know something Nodoka-chan." Yuuki tried to ignore her darting eyes. "Natsu-chan isn't the person you think she is. Not anymore at least. She genuinely loves me and yesterday I told her that I love her."

Nodoka face deflated slightly. "I know you think she loves you, maybe she even thinks it. But she doesn't. In the end, she's just obsessed with winning. She doesn't know you like I do. I know that you're taken with her because she's super hot and she said she likes you. But that's just superficial. The feelings you have for me is more real than that."

"How can you say that when you're the one who gave up on me as soon as you saw that some other girl was interested in me?"

She laughed. She leaned back in her chair, her leg stopped moving. "I loved you all this time, I just didn't know it yet. I needed something like that to happen to tell me how I felt. I tried to ignore it, I tried to play along with this whole girlfriend business, but the longer it went on I knew it wasn't just a crush, or jealousy. I actually loved you. Can you understand that?"

"Yeah."

"I wanted to tell you all this yesterday, but I didn't expect her to be here…" Nodoka's leg started to shake again. "And because I acted so stupid about that journal-prank you probably hate me now."

"I don't hate you, Nodoka-chan. But… I don't love you anymore." Yuuki finally forced himself to say it. "I'm not just saying that because of Natsu-chan. There are other reasons."

Nodoka narrowed her eyes bitterly. "Like what? Everything is her fault! I wouldn't have dumped you in front of everyone if it wasn't for her. And you wouldn't have given up on me because of her."

Yuuki argued back. "And because of her, I became more courageous… less shy. You wouldn't even notice me if it wasn't for her. She knows all my secrets and my dark-side. And because of that she brought out the best in me. There are things about me… things she understands…. we're so compatible-"

"You're not!" Nodoka stood up and stomped up to him. "She doesn't know you better than me!"

"There are things she understands about me I could never tell you, Nodoka-chan. Things that-"

But he couldn't finish talking. Nodoka was pressing her lips against his. He pushed her away. He couldn't believe she did that. He gave her a questioning look, but she had a satisfied expression on her face. She wasn't looking at him though, her eyes were behind him. Yuuki turned around and saw Manatsu by the entrance of the room, still in a towel. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tomoko slink off into the shadows. He wished he could join her.

"What's she doing here?" Manatsu spoke in a cold voice.

"I'm doing what I should have from the beginning." Nodoka walked past Yuuki and stood in front of Manatsu. "You told me once that you wanted my approval to date Yuuki-chan. Well I don't approve."

"It doesn't matter what you think anymore." Manatsu came back. Yuuki joined them, hoping to stop them if they came to blows. "Just give up before I get mad."

"I want you to stop messing with Yuuki-chan's head, Goto-san." Nodoka stood her ground. She wasn't scared. Yuuki thought that was a big mistake. Manatsu may have shown him her soft side lately, but deep down she was still a delinquent. "He's too sensitive for all that. Why can't you leave him alone?"

"Heh." Manatsu smirked. "He's not sensitive at all. The Yuuki you knew isn't the same person as the one now. There are things about him you'll never get. You need to wake up and realize that we're together now and you missed your shot."

"Like hell I did." Nodoka grabbed Yuuki's hand.

Manatsu wrenched it away. "Don't touch my boyfriend again. The only reason I haven't kicked your ass for that little kiss you did earlier is because you were once special to Yuu-kun. But my patience has a limit. Don't test me. I don't care if Yuu-kun is here, I'll pummel you to the ground."

"You wouldn't dare." Nodoka clinched her fist.

That wasn't a smart idea. Yuuki stepped in. "Nodoka-chan, it's not a very smart idea to attack Natus-chan. Besides, I I told you before that we're a couple now. I told you I forgive you for all that stuff earlier but… but we can't be friends if you're fighting with my girlfriend. I don't love you the way you love me. Please… understand that."

Nodoka looked defeated. "Don't say that. Please, Yuuki-chan. After everything we've been through, you can't pick her over me."

Yuuki couldn't look at her. The friend in him wanted to hug her. But he knew he couldn't. It would just encourage her feelings that he knew he couldn't respond too. He could tell she was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. But he couldn't face her.

"J-Just because you have sex with her…" Nodoka voice crack from the tears she apparently was shedding. "doesn't mean you love her…"

"We've never had sex." Manatsu spoke in a soft voice. Yuuki looked at her. Her raged had gone down slightly.

"You spend the night here all the time." Nodoka countered.

"Yeah?" Manatsu swallowed. "I won't lie about that. I even sleep in his bed with him every time I'm here. But we haven't done it. Not even last night. And believe me, if there ever was going to be a night to do it, it would have been last night."

"Why?"

"Because… we're not ready for that yet." Manatsu smiled slightly. "We love each other and we want to do it when it's right."

Nodoka eyes welled up again. She looked to Yuuki for confirmation. All he could do was nod. She had no more cards to play. She looked utterly dejected. "I-I'm sorry I… I caused you so … so much trouble."

"Nodoka-chan…" Yuuki wanted to comfort her, but he saw Manatsu glaring at him willing him to stand down. She was right. He couldn't give in to her while she was finally coming to grips on what they were telling her.

"I'm such an idiot." Nodoka smiled a conquered smile. "I really made myself look like a fool."

"Sure did." Manatsu didn't sugar-coat it. Yuuki wasn't sure he liked her rubbing it in. "But we don't hate you, do we Yuu-kun?"

"No. I don't." Yuuki agreed.

"S-see you at school." Nodoka mumbled then walked silently out the room, and allowed herself out the house.

It was over. Finally over. Yuuki felt his heart break for her. Ordinarily he'd be the person to comfort her at a time like this, but he was the one causing that much pain. Before he knew it Manatsu would hold him to her chest. He embraced her back. That was the hardest thing he had to ever do. He wanted to cry, but tears didn't come. He didn't know why.

"T-That must of been rough on you." Manatsu said as she pulled back. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's okay… better here than at school." Yuuki sighed heavily.

"Alright." Manatsu took up a fake smile. "I'll be extra nice to you today. Come upstairs and watch me change."

"Wha-"

"Some nudity will take your mind off things, right?" Manatsu winked at him.

"Gross." Tomoko suddenly was back in the room. "Did you forget I'm still here?"

"Sorry." Manatsu laughed. "I guess I'll be nice in other ways then. Wanna help Tomo-chan?"

She laughed a little. "No way. This definitely is a time for me not to be here."

Yuuki walked over to her. "Tomo-chan, we're definitely not chasing you out again."

"It's not that, I was always leaving, you idiot." Tomoko laughed. "I told you last night I was going to Aoi-chan's today, didn't I? Or where you too busy drooling over your girlfriend that you didn't hear me?"

"Oh."

"So get naked to your heart's content." Tomoko giggled. "I'll see you later."

When she left Manatsu grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs. Once in his room, she slammed his door shut and pushed him on the bed. Before he knew it, she was on top of him kissing him. Yuuki didn't fight it, though the back of his mind wondered why she was so frisky after all that drama.

"Finally, it's just us." Manatsu pulled away, answering him as if she read his mind. "No more Odo-san, just us."

"I thought you were going to punch her." Yuuki admitted to her.

"I was." Manatsu didn't deny it. "You don't even know what I was going to do to her when I saw her kiss you. It was against everything I am not to of leap over the couch and slam her head into the ground. But she's important to you… and I love you."

Yuuki pulled her head back down into another kiss. "Thank you."

Manatsu sat up on his lap and smiled coyly. She reached up and undid her towel. It fell down around her waist, and she lightly tossed it away. For a moment she allowed herself to be admired by his eyes then she lean back down and kissed him again. "Tell me who you love again?"

"I love Manatsu Goto."

The End.


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